Ken Borland

New SA Test captain Hashim Amla

Rookie captain Hashim Amla will have two uncapped players under his care as South Africa begin a new era of Test cricket without Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis in Sri Lanka next month.

Batsman Stiaan van Zyl and off-spinner Dane Piedt, both key members of the champion Cape Cobras team, have been called up for the two Tests against Sri Lanka as South Africa simultaneously look to continue the successes of the last five years and build for the future.

Amla claimed the Test captaincy yesterday ahead of the strong challenges of AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, with the national selectors opting for the continuity the 31-year-old will bring, both in terms of leadership and the balance of the team.

While both Amla and De Villiers have been an integral part of the journey that has seen the Proteas grow into a formidable outfit – a road the national selectors want to keep following – making De Villiers captain of the Test side would have robbed the team of an extra option as the Unlimited Titans star has made it clear he would give up the wicketkeeping gloves if he was skipper in the longest format of the game.

While convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson stressed that Amla was “the best leader to take South Africa forward”, he conceded that “AB continuing to keep wicket gives us more options”.

Losing two mighty oaks like Smith and Kallis leaves South Africa in a position of vulnerability as they travel to a venue which has proven their toughest sub-continental destination, and Hudson said they were banking on the calmness Amla brings to make the transition as smooth as possible.

But South Africa will also be heavily dependent on Amla’s prolific flow of runs and he was confident that the extra pressures of captaincy would not have an effect on his batting.

In his one previous season of captaincy, when he led the Dolphins to a share of the 2004/5 SuperSport Series four-day title, he averaged 54.38, scoring three centuries, including a superb 249 in the final against the Central Eagles.

“It’s an honour and privilege to be given this responsibility. Previously I concentrated on my batting a lot, but now it’s time to contribute to the team more. I’m here to serve the team and I will give all my heart to the position. The biggest positive is that I can add more value to the team.

“I’m positive it won’t affect my batting, I hope it won’t and I’m going to try and score as many, if not more, runs as before. I hope I can still get better as a batsman,” Amla said.

South Africa’s last Test tour of Sri Lanka, in 2006, effectively robbed Ashwell Prince, the only previous player of colour to lead the Proteas (albeit in a stand-in basis as Smith was injured), of any chance of captaining his country again as they were beaten 2-0 and Amla is aware of how tough their opposition are to play in their home conditions.

“It’s going to be quite a challenge because Sri Lanka are a very resourceful team. But it’s the sort of challenge you want, these are exciting times. It took us a few years to find a winning combination 10 years ago and it would be naïve to think that everything will just fall into place this time,” Amla warned.

Left-hander Dean Elgar is set to slot into Smith’s opening position alongside Alviro Petersen, while either Quinton de Kock or Van Zyl will fill the number seven spot if South Africa decide to play the extra batsman in Sri Lanka.

But with two frontline spinners in the squad in leggie Imran Tahir and Piedt, the Proteas could play both slow bowlers with Vernon Philander, who averaged 40.00 with the bat last season, moving up to number seven.

Dolphins strike bowler Kyle Abbott has been included ahead of all-rounder Ryan McLaren.

“We have to uncover new talent. There’s a generation of senior players at the core of the team, but who’s next, who will replace them? We must bring those players through and hopefully these guys will be them,” Hudson said.

There are no surprises in the ODI squad, with orthodox spinner Aaron Phangiso, left-arm paceman Beuran Hendricks and Du Plessis being brought into the team that will play three matches before the Test series.

De Villiers will remain in charge of the ODI team in the vital period before the World Cup while, in a role-reversal of the situation in the Test side, Amla will be his vice-captain.

Test squad: Alviro Petersen, Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Stiaan van Zyl, Wayne Parnell, Kyle Abbott.

ODI squad: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Vernon Philander, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Aaron Phangiso, Beuran Hendricks, Faf du Plessis.

Hashim Amla announced as South Africa's new Test captain

Cricket South Africa CEO Haroon Lorgat announced Hashim Amla as the new national Test captain yesterday and then reflected that he was in the same position as current convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson 12 years ago when Graeme Smith was named as Proteas skipper.

While Lorgat suggested there weren’t many “quality captaincy choices” around when he was the selection convenor, things have changed dramatically in South African cricket in those dozen years and Amla, as universally respected and well-liked as any player, should have much more popular support behind him than Smith did in those tough initial years after the 2003 World Cup disaster and the shock of Hansie Cronje’s fall from grace.

Amla, the first player of colour to be appointed as full-time skipper, beat off strong challenges from AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis for the Test captaincy but such is the camaraderie and culture amongst the senior Proteas that both men have assured management that they are fully behind their new Test leader.

If Amla had the same sort of strong jaw as Smith did it would be hidden beneath his luxurious beard, which is also an apt metaphor for the differences in their captaincy styles.

While Smith’s brand of leadership was highly visible (and vital for the rebuilding of a demoralised team), Amla will be a calming influence, providing continuity and building on the strong systems already in place.

He may be softly-spoken, but Amla is certainly a strong character and the leadership he has shown in the changeroom will now become more obvious out in the middle of the action.

“This is a very exciting time. Hashim has been contributing in a big way and has had a massive impact as a senior player, and the captaincy will be an extension of what he already quietly does behind the scenes. His style will be different, but that will be refreshing,” national coach Russell Domingo said.

While promising to be his own man, Amla himself recognises that he doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel now that he’s in charge of the Test side.

“Graeme’s leadership added a lot of value and we can take that with us and carry it on. A lot of us have played together for many years now and I won’t forget about the other senior players – it will be a collective effort. The team has gelled extremely well and has been managed brilliantly. We’re a high-performing Test team, we’ve been the best in the world, so not too much needs to change.

“I’m not going to try and copy anybody, generally you’re not as successful if you do. It’s difficult to say what style of captain I’ll be, I want to just let it come out naturally. I’ll just be as natural as possible, use what intrinsically works for me,” Amla said.

Even Castle Lager will get in behind Amla, according to Lorgat, even though the devout Muslim does not wear any branding or associate himself with any alcohol sponsorship.

“Castle have been very supportive, they sponsor the team not any individual. We all know Hashim’s views very well and we will meet the obligations of our commercial partners, although we are happy that they are respectful of individual views,” Lorgat said.

Hashim Amla should have more to celebrate than just tons of runs

Hashim Amla has had one season of captaincy for the Dolphins nearly 10 years ago as a 21-year-old but is now set to be handed the reins of South Africa’s Test team as CSA’s board meet today in Sandton to decide the successor to Graeme Smith.

The fact that Amla had success in that solitary season in charge down in Durban, leading the Dolphins to a share of the 2004/5 SuperSport Series four-day title and the semi-finals of the 45-over Standard Bank Cup, will have little bearing on tomorrow’s decision, save for one important factor.

While Amla relinquished the captaincy after one season, and has been reluctant to lead ever since, the extra responsibility had no noticeable effect on his batting, as he averaged 54.38 in the four-day competition, scoring three centuries, including a superb 249 in the final against the Central Eagles, and went on to make his debut for South Africa that season.

Amla’s main rival for the Test captaincy is the early favourite, AB de Villiers, who has already led South Africa in 40 ODIs.

De Villiers has the advantage of added experience in the role, but if he does become Test captain, it could well force a change in the successful balance of the national team, with the wicketkeeping gloves likely to be taken away from him.

Former South African captain Shaun Pollock, who was Smith’s predecessor, admitted that it was a tough call between Amla and De Villiers.

“There’s no doubt Hashim is a very calm individual and I don’t think being captain will affect his batting too much, but it’s difficult to comment on his tactical awareness unless you’ve played under him. The advantage Hashim has is that he’s just a batsman and there’s not too much on his plate,” Pollock told The Pretoria News yesterday.

“AB has the experience, having led in ODIs already, and knows what the role entails. I’ve been impressed with some of his captaincy, he’s shown some flair and managed things well. But would he have to change his role and give up the gloves because there’s a lot on his plate?” Pollock added.

Faf du Plessis has also been mentioned as a candidate, but he is likely to be left to concentrate on cementing his place in the Test side as a specialist batsman.

Both Amla and De Villiers are going to be key batsmen as South Africa move into the post-Smith-and-Kallis era, and there’s no doubt both will be able to lead from the front and command the respect of their team-mates. Both are universally respected in the cricketing world and both enjoy a good relationship with the media, handling their PR duties with aplomb.

But the factors that are likely to tip the vote Amla’s way are the lesser disruption it would cause to the balance of the team and the strong transformation message it would send out on behalf of Cricket South Africa, who were recently accused of only paying lip-service to affirmative action by the sports minister.

The fact that Amla, a devout Muslim and the first Protea of Indian heritage, has been able to develop into such a key person in the national camp on and off the field suggests he will also be able to pull the different threads of the several cultures within the squad together into a strong unit.

The national selectors will also today announce the squads to tour Sri Lanka next month for three ODIs and two Tests and are likely to reel in Stiaan van Zyl and one of two off-spinners Dane Piedt or Simon Harmer, as new caps for the five-day games. The other off-spinner is still likely to travel to Sri Lanka as a net bowler to gain experience of sub-continental conditions.

Whoever the Test captain is will be mindful of South Africa’s previous tour to Sri Lanka in 2006 where Ashwell Prince wound up losing 2-0 and never captained the Proteas again.

Probable Test squad: Alviro Petersen, Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Stiaan van Zyl, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel, Dane Piedt, Quinton de Kock, Ryan McLaren, Wayne Parnell/Beuran Hendricks.

Probable ODI squad: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, David Miller, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Wayne Parnell, Beuran Hendricks, Ryan McLaren, Simon Harmer.

Stokkies Hanekom on the charge

Bulls captain Flip van der Merwe says the 32-21 defeat at the hands of the Lions in their Super Rugby match at Ellis Park on Saturday night epitomised the three-time champions’ season that now looks likely to end without a playoffs place.

“It summed up our season, there were a lot of faults at crucial times. We were definitely in the game, we played some good rugby but the Lions played Bulls rugby against us very well,” Van der Merwe told a press conference after the game.

The Bulls are now down in ninth position on the log with 33 points and, with just two games remaining after the international break, trail the sixth-placed Hurricanes by four points.

But the Chiefs (35pts), Western Force (36pts) and Highlanders (38pts) are also all ahead of the Bulls and have three matches to play, while the Brumbies are fourth with 40 points with two games left.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said the team’s lack of accuracy on attack had again cost them dearly, as it has in so many of their away games this season.

“The big story was our finishing, we weren’t clinical. We played some good rugby, stringing phases together, but then penalties in the Lions’ half would break our progress, that’s where the momentum swung their way.

“When things aren’t going your way, you need a big moment to ignite the team and it just wasn’t there. It’s disappointing, we played against ourselves but we still feel there’s a small chance of making the playoffs,” Ludeke said.

The Lions camp, back on home turf after a tough four-week tour on which they were unfortunate to lose all their games, were far more optimistic as the victory showcased the character of the team and the bright future that lies ahead of them now that they have guaranteed Super Rugby.

“The boys are obviously glad to be home and they showed a lot of passion tonight. They were really hungry for the win because we felt we played better than our results overseas,” coach Johan Ackermann said.

“It makes me proud that the team never gives up, they train as if they are a winning team and I can’t fault the effort the last few weeks. It’s nice to get the reward.

Ackermann pointed out that they still needed to be sharper in areas of their game.

“We weren’t accurate in everything tonight, we lost a lot of lineouts, but we’ve learnt how to get out of our half and when to run the ball.

“The scrums were good and it was a big step up for Ruan Dreyer and Charles Marais after the late withdrawal of Julian Redelinghuys.

“The team fixed things well out on the field tonight and they worked hard for each other on defence.”

Lions captain Warren Whiteley was happy his team had shown how much they learnt on tour.

“We’ve shown how much we’ve grown, our brotherhood and our passion. We learnt valuable lessons on tour and we’ve got processes in place to stay calm, just think of the next task and stick to the game plan. I’m really proud of the effort,” Whiteley said.

The Lions’ defence was another standout area on the night, with an 89% tackle success rate compared to the Bulls’ 81%.

“Defence is something that epitomises us as a team, we pride ourselves on it. You can see our character and heart in it, the two try-saving tackles in the corner are one of those small margins that matter so much in Super Rugby,” Whiteley said.

The Lions have climbed off the bottom of the log into 13th place and finish their campaign with home matches against the Melbourne Rebels and Cheetahs.

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/super-rugby/news/140601/Van_der_Merwe_concern_about_season