Ken Borland

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.

Convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson: 'Massive selection changes will not sort out the problem'

The news from the national selectors in the wake of South Africa being massacred by Australia at Centurion is that the debate over the balance of the side has been reopened but Proteas fans should not expect widespread changes for the second Test starting in Port Elizabeth on Thursday.

“From a personnel point of view, we have no doubt that the 15 chosen for the series is the right group of players. Massive selection changes will not sort out the problem, which was application – by the players’ own admission they did not play as well as they could,” convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson said yesterday.

“There may be a change, a tweak from within that squad, but it’s unlikely we’ll bring anyone in from outside that group. We weren’t unhappy with Ryan McLaren, but it has just reopened the debate about the balance of the side. Do we play seven batsmen or a spinner, it’s about the balance for Port Elizabeth.”

While McLaren can quite rightly protest that he performed the role expected of him with the ball, while there were glaring failures all around him, it seems the selectors are toying with the idea of following Australia’s gamble of only playing three seamers and a frontline spinner.

“Australia went in batting-heavy and played three seamers and a spinner. Perhaps we’ll play a batsman at seven and then have three quicks and Robin Peterson.

“But that does leave you hanging a bit if the spinner gets hit out of the attack or there’s an injury. That’s the dilemma: having the all-rounder at seven as insurance or backing four bowlers to do the job like Australia does,” Hudson admitted.

Australia’s march to victory was very much achieved on the back of Mitchell Johnson, however, and the South African batsmen played the other touring bowlers with relative comfort. South Africa don’t have a Johnson and the Australian batsmen have already shown a liking to Peterson, which could leave their attack incredibly vulnerable.

Hudson also admitted that JP Duminy, who successfully blocked out Johnson in the first innings and then fell to an extraordinary catch at short-leg off his bowling in the second innings, would come under discussion.

“JP’s place in the team – we’d need to chat about that and whether the top six are doing what we expect from them. JP hasn’t had great form but he is a quality player and he’s done well against Australia before. There’s no doubt he’s a class player,” Hudson said.

Convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson had to explain himself to the board of Cricket South Africa (CSA) in Johannesburg on Wednesday and left with a clearer understanding of his transformation duties, according to acting president Willie Basson.

Hudson and his fellow selectors have been criticised for their handling of wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile, who was given a national contract last year and was assured he would be given an opportunity in the Test side during the current series against New Zealand.

Instead, Tsolekile has been dropped from the squad, having not been given an opportunity to play a single Test on tours of England and Australia, with key batsman AB de Villiers being entrusted with the gloves as the current successor to Mark Boucher.

“Andrew Hudson was invited to address us and he explained the selectors’ thinking in detail. After a long and intensive debate, he left more enlightened and informed about what is required from the selectors in terms of transformation. He has been sensitised to make sure the selectors deal with transformation in the most appropriate way in future,” Basson said at O.R. Tambo International Airport on Wednesday.

Basson confirmed that a mandatory number of Black African players for franchise and national teams is being considered by CSA.

“The target at the moment is four blacks for franchise and national teams, but a stipulation for Black Africans will be coming as part of the strategy of the Transformation Committee,” Basson said.

Basson acknowledged that more needed to be done at the higher levels of cricket in terms of transformation, but he said this had to be part of “a natural, bottom-upwards process”.

“Transformation at school and club level is far advanced – more than 60% of players are black at those levels. Transformation is still in progress at national level, and our efforts have been recognised by the minister of sport.

“But we’re now looking at three levels of transformation because they all have different requirements – national teams, franchises and schools and clubs. The pipeline needs to flow in a natural, bottom-upwards process,” Basson explained.

According to the acting president, Hudson defended the exclusion of Tsolekile because AB de Villiers was a much better batsman than the 32-year-old Highveld Lions wicketkeeper.

“Andrew explained to us the problems faced by the selectors in ensuring the team remains at the highest level and balancing that with the sensitivities of selection in ensuring there are necessary opportunities for everyone. He said it had been a case of AB de Villiers’ tremendous batting ability being more valuable than Tsolekile’s outstanding wicketkeeping and that, according to Andrew, Thami understands the position 100%.

“But the foundation has been laid for much better communication between the selectors, players and the board than in the past,” Basson said.

Basson also confirmed that the appointment of a Black African national selector was “in the pipeline” with nominations now being called for.

SOUTH Africa’s Test squad were not too far from perfection in beating England and securing the number one ranking a couple of months ago, so it is little surprise there have been only minor changes to the party for their trip to Australia at the end of the month.

While selection convener Andrew Hudson is totally content with the starting 11, he said in Johannesburg on Wednesday that “we have just tweaked our reserve strength slightly to suit expected conditions and the tactical situation”.

Uncapped Rory Kleinveldt and Faf du Plessis have been chosen as the prime bowling and batting cover, while Thami Tsolekile will again tour as a reserve wicketkeeper.

Barring a major loss of form or injury, Tsolekile is probably the most likely to play because of concern about the ability of AB de Villiers’ admittedly wonderfully athletic body to handle the strain of both keeping wicket and being a key batsman. Hudson told Business Day that a final decision on the wicketkeeping berth would need to be made but this was unlikely to happen before the Australian tour.

“We need a long-term solution to the wicketkeeping berth and it’s certainly on the selectors’ minds. We will need to apply ourselves to questions like, is AB keen and able to do the job or do we need to start grooming a new incumbent?

“But we’ll maybe only do that after the tour, it will be a hot topic to talk about.

“AB keeping wicket in England gave us the edge in that series with a recognised batsman at No7 but we will go to Australia with an open mind and be cognisant of his fitness and the demands of keeping affecting his batting,” Hudson said.

The selectors have clearly lost patience with Lonwabo Tsotsobe’s erratic form this year and he will have some much-needed game time with the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins, having sat on the Proteas’ bench for several months.

Hudson said the selectors believed Kleinveldt could have the same dramatic effect Vernon Philander had when he was called up from the same Cape Cobras side a year ago.

“In Australian conditions, we believe Rory will get nice movement and he hits the deck.

“He’s been just behind Vernon in the overall averages in recent years, he’s been bowling with good pace for the South Africa A side.

“He’s done his time, he’s bowled well in four-day cricket and performed for a number of years and we believe he could be similar to Vernon in the way he came through. Plus he’s useful as a batsman down the order, just adding to the package,” Hudson said.

Du Plessis lost confidence on the England tour and during the ICC World Twenty20, but appeared to be on the comeback trail in his last innings when he blazed 65 off 38 balls against India.

He will be on standby to cover any middle-order holes, with Jacques Rudolph on hand to fill in at the top of the order if necessary.

Du Plessis averaged 85.57 in last season’s SuperSport Series, second only to Hashim Amla (90.50), and there was a big gap between him and the likes of Alviro Petersen (62.76), Justin Ontong (59.81), Tsolekile (59.50) and Colin Ingram (57.88).

Petersen, who broke his hand fielding for the Highveld Lions in their opening match of the season, is expected to be fit to play in time for the first Test starting in Brisbane on November 9.

“By all accounts he’ll be fine, I’ve had no red flags from the medical committee,” Hudson said.

PROTEAS SQUAD

Graeme Smith, Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Jacques Rudolph, JP Duminy, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Thami Tsolekile, Rory Kleinveldt, Faf du Plessis, Robin Peterson.

http://www.bdlive.co.za/sport/cricket/2012/10/11/minor-changes-to-south-africa-squad-for-australia-tour