SA drops to sixth in Test rankings, rightly so

South Africa has dropped to sixth place in the recently released ICC Test rankings, the Proteas now on 92 points behind Australia (118), India (112), Pakistan (111), England (105) and New Zealand (98). In recent blogs I mentioned that the Proteas are not nearly as good a squad as they used to be. The rankings released on 3 May confirm this. I also said that the most recent performances suggested a return to winning ways.

Proteas captain AB de Villiers has a lot to do to renew the public's faith in the team.

The ICC is very accurate with their rankings, and takes into consideration how recent the matches were, under the period of review. When the new rankings were released this May, all Test results in the 2012/13 season no longer counted. Furthermore, the results from the 2015/16 season were regarded more highly. Both of these changes affected our rankings. While we held the number one or two spot in recent years, we now languish only four points above Sri Lanka in seventh place. There are several reasons for this decline:

Our greats of the game have retired, or are still playing but without much support from the rest of the team, or belief in themselves. Only Kagiso Rabada and Quinton de Kock are new players worthy of wearing the green cap. AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla are expected to do most of the scoring with the bat, while the rest of the batting line up is continuously chopped and changed as selectors desperately try to find players with enough talent, consistency and mental strength to perform. 

The fact that some pundits regard Kyle Abbott as our best bowler is quite sad, as his figures are average, and he usually does not trouble batsmen. The ageing Dale Steyn is usually injured, or when he does play, bowls without much confidence . Imran Tahir is bowling well, but the 37-year-old's age will soon catch up to him. Other than KG and De Kock, no new players are knocking on the door at domestic level.

I believe that our new Test ranking is accurate. We are on the bottom half of the table. But I also believe that we can once again become a force to be reckoned with. It does not happen overnight, and must start at the domestic, schools and U19 levels.

The best team won the World Cup

The West Indies won the ICC World Twenty 20 India 2016 after they beat England in the final on 3 March. This World Cup was a topsy turvy one, with surprises and upsets throughout. Yet the winners proved that they were the best team in the tournament, showing up their opponents on all fronts (except when they lost to Afghanistan). From the start, the Windies proved that they were a force to be reckoned with, and were fiercely determined to win. Now they are the first team to win the T20 World Cup twice.

The West Indies did everything right to win the ICC World Twenty 20 India 2016. Photo from http://ccl6t.com

With bat, the Windies proved that they could destroy any bowling lineup – despite Kieron Pollard not playing in the tournament, and Chris Gayle getting out early in most of the matches. The mere fact that their number eight batsman, Carlos Brathwaite, hit four sixes in a row in the last over in the final, under inconceivable pressure, to win the World Cup – shows that anything is possible for this team.

While West Indies did not have the most impressive bowling attack, their bowlers were clever. They varied their bouncers, yorkers and slower balls throughout the tournament, always leaving the batsmen guessing. The spinner always came on at the right time, and bowling changes suited the stage of the innings.

While not perfect in the field, the West Indies were no worse than than any other team in a tournament which saw too many dropped catches and missed chances. At one point in the final, it seemed that the Windies had left too much to do too late. But the West Indies showed us that anything is possible for a team that believes despite all odds.

Topsy turvy World Cup

Surprises and upsets have surfaced at the ICC World Twenty 20 India 2016. Some of the jack in the boxes included India being bowled all out for 79 to lose to New Zealand by 47 runs, New Zealand defending 142 against the mighty Australians, and England chasing a whopping 229 against South Africa. Furthermore, surprise qualifiers Afghanistan nearly beat Sri Lanka, and gave South Africa a run for their money in their group matches. Overwhelming pride felt by some fans has been reflected by heart-break in others. In the end, some teams will progress and others will not. It appears that some highly-ranked countries might not make the cut this time, but that does not make the show any less exhilarating.

Image from www.wikipedia.org

Right now it is anybody's guess how things will turn out. Teams attaining high scores are not necessarily defending them. And teams slugging out meagre totals are pulling rabbits out of hats to everyone's astonishment. In my opinion, West Indies look like the strongest team at the moment, proving themselves with bat, ball and in the field. New Zealand have also proven that they are title contenders, with great performances. The three that usually make the top of the favourites list – India, Australia and South Africa – have fallen behind. India and Australia have both lost matches that should not have been lost. South Africa's bowlers lack confidence and discipline. They gave 26 extras away against England!

Champions Sri Lanka do not look as good as they used to. It seems that as time goes by, Sri Lanka's bowling attack gets weaker. It is hard to expect that their current bowlers could follow on from where Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas left off. Pakistan are not as good as they were a few years ago – without Saeed Ajmal or Younis Khan.

Whatever happens, I believe this World Cup will be entertaining for all. And a little drama never hurt anyone.

The Proteas are back to their winning ways

I previously blogged how the South African cricket team found itself in a precarious position after losing the home Test series to England, and appearing to lack confidence. I can now safely say that the Proteas are back to their old ways (beating opponents comprehensively in all facets of the game, while playing with belief in their abilities).

Yes, the Test series losses to India and England prove that our Test squad is not what it used to be. But after winning our last five limited overs matches against England – three One Day Internationals, and two T20s, to win those series – things are definitely looking better. We will play against Australia next, in three T20s starting on 4 March. To be honest, I do not think we will win, as Australia look very good at the moment, but we must not let this get us down. We have done well to recover from where we were. After that, we will compete in the T20 World Cup.

Proteas fans can celebrate now that the team is winning again.

I took interest in a recent Graeme Pollock column. The SA batting legend said that room must be made available for Quinton de Kock in the T20 squad, event though we won the T20 series against England without him. I wholeheartedly agree with this. A slight injury kept de Kock out of the T20 series, and because of it, I felt nervous looking at our batting line up before each game. De Kock is a confident, talented and aggressive opening batsmen, with sublime timing and shot selection.

Pollock believes that de Kock is better than David Miller and Rilee Rossouw, and to fit de Kock in the side, one of those two would have to sit out. With this, I concur, although it would be a hard decision. Both have played well for South Africa in limited overs.

Another difficulty would be in deciding which opening pair to go with – with AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock all able and available. De Kock and AB are both explosive players who play extravagant shots. They have not opened together before, but there is a first time for everything. I think our management should try it out. Hashim appears to be more subdued, but can still score at a good rate with clever stroke play.

 I will end off with de Kock's batting statistics as of 23 February, courtesy of espncricinfo.com:

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	8	12	3	407	129*	45.22	615	66.17	1	2	38	5	31	2
ODIs	57	57	3	2319	138*	42.94	2530	91.66	10	5	270	31	80	3
T20Is	22	22	4	513	48*	28.50	422	121.56	0	0	57	15	20	7
First-class	34	57	7	2404	194	48.08	2956	81.32	7	14	286	42	120	7
List A	96	94	4	3601	138*	40.01	3848	93.58	13	11	402	57	115	9
Twenty20	100	94	9	2857	126*	33.61	2123	134.57	2	14	305	105	60	16

Proteas on a knife edge

After winning the T20 and ODI series in India late last year, the Proteas suffered one-sided Test series losses against India and then against England at home. This led to South Africa dropping to number two in the world Test cricket rankings behind India, after holding the number one spot for about a decade. Pundits and former players are saying that our time as the dominant team in Test cricket is over. Our best fast bowlers, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, who have spear-headed our success in the past, now suffer frequent injuries, and are growing old.

Kagiso Rabada is breaking records at the tender age of 20. CC Search image.

Furthermore, when AB de Villiers or Hashim Amla do not bat well, the rest of the team usually do not perform well, with senior batsmen Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy in very poor form of late. What is more, I have never seen South Africa drop as many catches as they did in the last two months – probably another side-affect of our lack of confidence. The resignation of Hashim Amla as Test captain stands as a stark indication that times are tough in the dressing room.

I believe that the Proteas are standing on a knife edge, close to falling into a dark place. We are number three in the world in One Day Internationals and sixth in T20 Internationals. Confidence is low. But all is not lost.

Our victory in the final Test match against England shows that our team still has fight left. Coming-of-age bowler Kagiso Rabada (20) finished with figures of 13–144, the second best by any South African in a Test match. This is more than just a glimmer of hope for our future. In addition, it appears that Hashim Amla is back in form. He struggled to score runs throughout 2015, but after relinquishing Test captaincy, the super-batsman is playing with more confidence and focus, which bodes immensely well for us. While AB took over the Test captaincy reins at a difficult time, I believe that he can turn the team around. As I said in my previous blog post, not many players can inspire his teammates like AB can, or put fear into the opposition.

In conclusion, the Proteas are not what they once were, especially in Test cricket. But signs are evident that we can improve, if the players and staff commit to working hard. We have a five-match ODI series against England starting on 3 February, followed two T20 matches. Perhaps we can turn our attention more towards limited overs cricket now – an area we have neglected in the past.

Amla's resignation good for South Africa in the long run

The Proteas had worked hard to recover from being put to the sword by the England cricket team. After losing dismally in the first Test match in Durban, England added to the pressure by posting 629–6 declared in the first innings of the second Test in Cape Town. Something inspirational was needed to turn the four-Test series around. This came in the form of our Test captain, Hashim Amla, scoring 201 in reply. His innings revitalised our team, inspiring a comeback on the fourth and fifth days of the Test. We finished our innings on 627–7 declared, with Temba Bavuma scoring a maiden Test hundred. 

So encouraged were the Proteas by Amla's innings, that we declared two runs short of England's score, just so we would have more time to bowl them out. And, our bowlers did well. Wickets kept tumbling. England struggled to survive on the last day, only doing so thanks to wickets being disallowed due to no-balls, and missed chances by the South Africans. England finished the day on 159–6, having abandoned the game a few hours early due to bad light. Then came the shock of the series. Amla resigned as Proteas Test captain, saying that for the previous two weeks he had been thinking that someone else could be doing a better job than him as captain. He also wanted to work on his batting.

Hashim Amla has resigned as Test captain of the Proteas.

As One Day International captain, AB de Villiers brings his own captaincy style to the squad, and for T20 Internationals, Faf du Plessis does the same. While these two are different people, they grew up together, both playing cricket for their school – Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool. They are both hard-working, high-intensity players who rely on skill and labour to do the job. Yes they are intelligent, and know how to be patient while batting, or place a field for certain batsmen for the situation in the game. But for Amla, it was all methodical.

Amla once compared captaincy to a game of chess, where every decision had to be comprehensively thought out before implementation. One could see early on in his captaincy that his field placements were very intentional, much like Graeme Smith's once were. South Africa is going to lose this aspect to its Test game. Yet, I believe that this action will probably turn out better for South Africa in the long run.

AB de Villiers, who was vice-captain in Tests, will replace Amla as captain in the remaining Tests in the series, and hopefully, for the foreseeable future. AB de Villiers inspires players more than Amla does, and through his tenacious batting puts fear into the opposition more than any other batsman in the world. AB has shown that he can be captain and still bat well in the ODIs. With Quinton de Kock ensuring that AB does not have to keep wickets anymore, I think AB can replicate his success in Tests as well. He just needs to learn a few things and he will make a phenomenal Test captain.

Was the India tour a triumph or disaster?

A crushing 3–0 loss against India in the recent Test series would have left many South African cricket fans distraught, shaking their heads at how such a powerful batting line up had been easily brought to its knees. It would be very easy to forget that the Proteas won the T20 series 2–0 and the One Day International series 3–2 just weeks before.

One thing is certain: The 72-day tour was highly competitive, with both SA and India being hurt by the other side on several occasions. While the shorter format matches were closely contested, the Test series was one-sided. Batsmen scored freely, as the T20 and ODI series turned into a run contest between AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis for SA against Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli for India. The Test series dissolved into one-way traffic – South African batsmen toiling, struggling to survive as long as they could against lethal Indian spinners on pitches with nightmarish turn and bounce.

Proteas Test captain Hashim Amla will feel the heat after our Test series defeat to India.

But was the tour a victory or failure? I argue that it was both.

Before the tour, South Africa had not lost an overseas Test series since 2006. In this regard, the Test series loss was definitely a failure, especially as we fell so hard. Man of the series Ravichandran Ashwin was unplayable. The Indian spinner tore our batting line up apart with his intelligent bowling, and use of variety. Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra supported him well, ensuring that our batsmen had no room to breathe. The series showed that South African batsmen still do not know how to play great spinners on turning wickets. Our batsmen were bamboozled.

Having said this, the Test series did highlight a weak point for us. The Proteas coaching staff must identify it and correct it. India had not played a Test series at home in two years, so perhaps it was an honour to be selected to compete with them, whatever the result. Furthermore, how often does a team go to India and win two series? India is very strong at home, and several cricket captains such as Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith have alluded to this. Winning any series there is an accomplishment. Thus I feel that we also succeeded in India. Our T20 and ODI series wins showed the world that we have what it takes to also be successful in the limited overs format.

At the end of the day SA won five matches, and India won five matches. Both sides would have wanted more wins.