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.

SA are unstoppable

I previously blogged how India would beat the Proteas in the T20 series, and the One Day International (ODI) series could go either way between the sides. I never expected SA to win both series convincingly (2–0, and 3–2 respectively). Who would have thought? India, the giants of limited overs cricket, and South Africa – while incredibly strong, are too often inconsistent. It was an awesome surprise. The ODI series win was our first in India.

Faf du Plessis is on fire. Photo from NT44NZblog photo from www.sports.ndtv.com.

With the phenomenal form South Africa is in, it must be hard being an Indian player with the prospect of a four-match Test series on the horizon, especially after losing two series at home, and as South Africa is ranked first in the world in Tests. Yes, JP Duminy, Morne Morkel and Rilee Rossouw were recently injured, but South Africa pulled together as a team and performed remarkably in all aspects of the game. Fielding was good, bowling was excellent, and batting was... Batting was out of this world.

Quinton de Kock clearly likes batting in India. He scored two centuries in the series, and out of his eight ODI centuries, five were against India. Faf du Plessis showed incredible consistency in his batting, and AB is on another level in limited overs cricket. Perhaps Chris Gayle is as destructive, but even he does not obliterate bowling attacks as often as AB does.

Dale Steyn is still striking, and now Kagiso Rabada is chipping in big time. In fact, Rabada has shown confidence and big-match temperament beyond his years. Steyn and Rabada each took 10 wickets in the ODI series. So much for spin dominating in India.

On the whole, South Africa are looking as good as I have ever seen them in limited overs. Who can stop us now? Let me know what you think.

It's not looking good for India

After a one-sided T20 series marred by unruly fans, and a scorcher of a first One Day International, India have it all to do in the remainder of the lengthly South Africa tour of India. The 72-day tour saw the Proteas win the three-match T20 series 2–0, which included a play disruption in the second match because fans felt unhappy about India's poor performance and threw water bottles onto the field. The third T20 was rained out. South Africa clinched the first of five ODIs by five runs on 11 October. It was a nail-biting affair, with South Africa posting 303 and the match going to the final ball. A four-match Test series is still to come.

India captain MS Dhoni will feel the expectations of a nation on his shoulders, as India struggle
against South Africa. Photo from www.linkedin.com

Three wins on the trot for South Africa places the momentum with them, and leaves us in no doubt as to what the state of morale is in the two camps. I certainly did not expect South Africa to win the T20 series, and especially not 2–0. Furthermore, India were batting very well in the ODI, with Rohit Sharma slamming 150 runs. It looked like we were going to lose. But credit to our bowlers. Staring down the face of the barrel, we did not change our tactics. We stuck to our game plan, even to the final over, and it paid off. Two wickets in an over for both Imran Tahir and Kagiso Rabada (in the final over) showed that we have big-match-temperament.

I have to say, it was beautiful watching Rabada bowl so well against high-profile batsmen. For a 20-year-old bowling the final over against MS Dhoni, when India only needed 11 runs to win, must have been nerve-wracking. But Rabada held his line and length and did not step over the line. Instead, he snatched the wickets of Dhoni and Stuart binny, and only gave away five runs. Incredible. AB de Villiers was awarded the man of the match for his 104 runs off 73 balls. I feel Sharma deserved the award though.

The phenomenal innings by Sharma aside, India are not in good form, neither with bat nor ball. India's star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's injury will strike a blow in the hearts of Team India, and with the Indian fans openly expressing their dissatisfaction in the team's performances, it probably does not feel good being an Indian cricketer at the moment.

The second ODI will be played on 14 October.

A giant cricketing clash

India will soon host South Africa for a cricketing tour that will last a lengthy 72 days, including three T20s, five One Day Internationals and four Test Matches. The extensive contest between two of the world's top teams will be one of the most exciting of the season. The tour starts on 2 October with the T20 series.

According to ICC rankings, in T20s India is fourth in the world and South Africa is sixth. In ODIs, India is second and SA is third. In Tests, SA is first, and India is fifth. Therefore, across all formats SA has an average ranking of 3.33 and India averages 3.67. Both teams are very strong. The tour should be a close affair.

While India is very strong in its batting, with the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and MS Dhoni, it is weaker in the bowling department, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar the only bowlers we should worry about.

AB de Villiers is the highest-ranked ODI batsman while Virat Kohli is the highest ranked T20 batsman. photo from www.worldcup2015livestreaming.com

South Africa is good in both departments, as I have mentioned before. AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla will have a point to prove, being two of the best batsmen in the world (AB is the best in my mind, at number one in ODIs and two in Tests). Dale Steyn will again come firing, while Vernon Philander will look to make a strong comeback in his performances.

But playing in India is never easy. We have lost many series there, and again India will come at us hard, with belief that they can win. I think that India will win the T20 series. We should pip India in the Test series, but the ODI series could go either way.

Graeme Smith completes his career

Former Proteas captain Graeme Smith has been announced as an ambassador for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. The foundation uplifts communities by supporting 150 community sports projects in 35 countries. This is a far cry from the brazen 'I do not care what you think' and slightly rude attitude of the then 22-year-old who became South Africa's cricket captain in 2002. But Smith has undergone a textbook evolution in his sporting career.

Starting out as a rather arrogant but talented young batsman who always took on the world's best bowlers without respect, and who never shied from a verbal argument, Smith has finally completed the final task of any sporting icon after retirement – giving back. 

Graeme Smith's cricketing career has reached its end. CC Search image.

Just as former Proteas wicket keeper Mark Boucher now supports initiatives that prevent rhino poaching, and former Springboks captain Francois Pienaar founded the MAD Charity to support learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, Smith is getting involved in charity. Some former sports players take up commentary or writing after they retire, (by the way, Smith has already authored Graeme Smith: A Captain's Diary, which is an inspiring read), but the true sign of a career's end is something given back to society.

While Smith has overseen a few charity programmes since his retirement, and is now an employee of financial services company Momentum, this announcement marks the start of the completion of a spectacular sporting career. Now, Smith will appear in the media as an icon bringing attention to important causes and raising awareness about matters of significance. Just like every other individual who started out with a unique, albeit arrogant and selfish, attitude, the sporting system has ensured that the outcome is a well-mannered, caring, philanthropic icon.

Graeme Smith's cricketing statistics, courtesy of ESPN cricinfo

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	117	205	13	9265	277	48.25	15525	59.67	27	38	1165	24	169	0
ODIs	197	194	10	6989	141	37.98	8648	80.81	10	47	788	44	105	0
T20Is	33	33	2	982	89*	31.67	770	127.53	0	5	123	26	18	0
First-class	165	284	19	12916	311	48.73			37	51			241	0
List A	259	253	15	9331	141	39.20			14	67			137	0
Twenty20	86	86	6	2389	105	29.86	1941	123.08	1	11	293	51	37	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	117	37	1418	885	8	2/145	2/145	110.62	3.74	177.2	0	0	0
ODIs	197	43	1026	951	18	3/30	3/30	52.83	5.56	57.0	0	0	0
T20Is	33	3	24	57	0	-	-	-	14.25	-	0	0	0
First-class	165		1786	1132	11	2/145		102.90	3.80	162.3		0	0
List A	259		1968	1796	47	3/30	3/30	38.21	5.47	41.8	0	0	0
Twenty20	86	7	96	148	4	3/23	3/23	37.00	9.25	24.0	0	0	0