AB & Amla Awesome



Familiar sight? AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla each make a century against
West Indies with a 129 run partnership between them. Taken
on 22 May 2010.
http://www.itsonlycricket.com/entry/2009/

These two are fighting it out as two of the best batsmen in the world. According to Reliance ICC Player Rankings (www.relianceiccrankings.com/) Amla is the number one batsmen in ODIs in the world with 887 points and AB is number two with 804 points. In tests de Villiers is number 10 and Amla is number 12. The same source predicts both to improve their test rankings.

Indeed both exhibit a great deal of aggression and confidence in their batting. Amla plays more with his wrists, which must be ridiculously strong, and AB plays more with an orthodox, text book technique. Both are instrumental to the Proteas and highly efficient run-makers.

Their stats show why they are ranked so highly. Yahoo!cricket shows that In ODIs Amla has 2,462 runs at an average of 57.25. AB has 4,523 runs at 45.68. What's even more impressive than their averages is their strike rates. Amla has an ODI strike rate of 92.73. de Villiers has one of 91.3. Their averages and strike rates are two of the highest to ever appear in ODI cricket.

What surprises me the most about these two is that, if you remember, neither of them started their proteas careers very well. AB came into the 2007 World Cup with an average of a little more than 15. Between you and me I wanted him dropped from the team. But he silenced me in our game against West Indies in that competition making 146 off 130 balls.

Amla also started out as the most defensive player in our team. He was only picked for test matches and at first he did not make a great deal of runs. The combination of this and his poor strike rate made me question him. But he too has become a new batsmen since then. I now regard him as probably the most aggressive middle-order batsmen we possess.

Both of these players have shown tremendous consistency, the likes of which I have not seen before in the Proteas. AB de Villiers is now the ODI and T20 captain for the Proteas. Amla is his vice-captain.



de Villiers and Amla after their record third wicket
partnership against the Netherlands in this year's world cup.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/content/image/503992.html

It just shows you can't quickly judge someone's capabilities. People need time to reach their potential. It's a good thing Mickey Arthur did not give up on these two, like I did for a while.

Please comment below. One random person who comments will receive a free pair of Gunn & Moore cricket gloves.

http://www.abdevilliersfan.com/wordpress/2011/06/ab-de-villiers-relishes-captaincy-challenge/ This is a good blog about AB de Villiers attaining the captaincy of the ODI and T20 squad.

© Nicholas Zaal 08 September 2011.