The Proteas need to think outside the box in terms of leadership and talent in order to be considered as a Goliath in World Cricket again, writes Ravi “The Heavy Roller” Reddy.
I’ve been a cricket fan for over 25 years. Most of those years were spent watching the game in South Africa. During this time I saw many Proteas skippers approach the crease with vigor, vision, confidence and certainty. These names included the late Hansie Cronje, Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith and the mighty Hashim Amla. There was a time that I had the same impression of our current skipper, Faf du Plessis.
He started his tenure very impressively with away wins in Australia, an ODI whitewash of the canary yellows and home Test wins against India & Australia. Then the wheels fell off.
A rag tag ensemble of a visiting Sri Lanka team entered our shores with a positive, “never say die” attitude. We clearly underestimated our opponents and they repaid the favour by demolishing the hosts with a 2-0 whitewash. This was unfortunately followed by uninspired away performances during the Cricket World Cup in England finishing near the bottom of the log.
It was later discovered that our coach at the time, Ottis Gibson, actually resided in England and his contract was terminated a few days prior to the World Cup. This was all testament to the unique management exploits of Thabang Moroe, the suspended CEO of Cricket South Africa.
However inspite of the recent string of undesirable defeats, we maintained Faf du Plessis as the captain for all formats. It became even more evident during their highly anticipated tour of India that Du Plessis became more despondent and discouraged over time. His dissatisfaction and frustration from recent events became more visible so much so, it resulted in the public calling for his resignation.
South Africa are currently down 2 Tests to 1, courtesy of our English visitors. Prior to this series, SA haven’t lost a Test match at Newlands to England in over 50 years with their most recent defeat in the Cape being handed to them by the 2014 Australian Test team.
With the Wanderers Test in a few days, there have been many questions around team selection and future leadership. Kagiso Rabada was issued a one-match ban by the ICC due to his conduct after taking the wicket of Joe Root at St George’s Park. This leaves a massive gap and gigantic shoes to fill as our key wicket taker is out of the match. There is great possibility that the Wanderers Test may see the return of all rounder Dwaine “Hulk” Pretorious and debutant, Beuran Hendricks.
In addition the bowling attack will most likely include Anrich Nortje, Keshav Maharaj and Vernon Philander (who will be playing his final Test match). From a batting point of view, many have called for the omission of Zubayr Hamza. Potential replacements, should the CSA team management oblige, will include Keegan Petersen (over 5 500 FC runs, average 40).
It’s also expected that cricket fans will see the return of Temba Bavuma. The question remains as to where he will eventually bat.
Furthermore, Bavuma is one of three potential successors to take over the reigns from Faf du Plessis in the Test arena. The other two candidates are Quinton de Kock and Dean Elgar.
It was announced that De Kock has succeeded Faf du Plessis as the ODI Captain. It will come as no surprise if this appointment extends to the T20 arena as well. Du Plessis has been less than inspirational as captain in recent events and it may result in his captaincy and place in the T20 team being stripped altogether.
It was recently revealed that AB de Villiers was in talks with CSA management with regards to a potential return to the Protease T20 roster. This also resulted in mixed reaction from SA fans.
Objectively this will potentially address a major shortfall in the batting order at present. As far as leadership goes, there appears to be a dark cloud and major uncertainty.
With the T20 World Cup taking place in a few months time in Australia, this is not the ideal position for the Proteas to be in.
The inbound T20 series against England and Australia is expected to see a vast number of debutants placing a stake in the ground.
The new kids on the block may include Kyle Verreynne, Janneman Malan and Sisanda Magala for the national T20 squad. If the Proteas wants to become a Goliath in the realm of international cricket, they need to think outside the box in terms of leadership and talent.
Would you like to see AB de Villiers return to the national side? Would you like to see AB take over the T20 reigns from Faf du Plessis? Sound off your thoughts below.
Yours in Peace, Love and Cricket
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