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.

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.

South Africa were precariously placed on 201 for five at tea on the first day of the third Test against Pakistan at Centurion on Friday.

The second session was a particularly good one for Rahat Ali, bringing him his second and third Test wickets as the Centurion pitch helped him with just enough lateral movement.

Hashim Amla had been the mainstay of the South African first innings with a classy 92 filled with some great strokes that brought him 13 fours, but Rahat removed him with a wide delivery that was edged to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed as the Bearded Wonder went on the slash.

It was a stirring fightback by Pakistan after lunch as they claimed three wickets for 97 runs in 26 overs, leaving South Africa in a sticky situation.

Amla and Faf du Plessis had been excellent in adding 66 for the third wicket to lift South Africa to 104 for two at lunch and were looking to crack on the pace after the break.

But Du Plessis would be gone in the fourth over of the session, caught behind for 29 off a fine delivery from Ehsan Adil that was back-of-a-length and nipped away.

AB de Villiers was quickly into his stride as he and Amla added 79 for the fourth wicket off just 112 balls but Pakistan would be the happier side at tea as Rahat struck twice in two overs.

Dean Elgar came to the crease when Amla left and only lasted seven balls when he was trapped in the crease by a Rahat inswinger, wasting a review to compound his error.

When South Africa return for the final session, much will depend on De Villiers, who had gone untroubled to 40 not out.

Much was asked of Robin Peterson in Cape Town and he delivered superbly, but South Africa need another contribution from him as well as he resumes on two not out.

To win the toss, bat first and be bowled out on the first day is not going to please captain Graeme Smith, and he will be looking to his lower-order to help De Villiers steer them to 300 before stumps with the loss of as few more wickets as possible.

The grossly inexperienced Pakistan pace attack were beginning to feel the strain at lunch as Amla and Du Plessis cruised along.

The Pakistanis had claimed two early wickets as the openers, Alviro Petersen (10) and Graeme Smith (5), fell cheaply in the first 10 overs.

The visitors had made two changes to their pace attack with Umar Gul unwell and Tanvir Ahmed dropped. With Junaid Khan still feeling the effects of the strange thigh wound that kept him out of the second Test in Cape Town, the Pakistanis brought in Rahat and debutant Adil.

That left Mohammad Irfan, who made his debut in Cape Town, as the leader of the attack, while Rahat had also played his first Test just 10 days earlier at the Wanderers.

It was Rahat who made the first breakthrough, trapping Petersen lbw for 10, although he had been innocuous up till then.

Petersen’s form may be one of the few items up for discussion in terms of selection, but he had looked good, stroking two boundaries, before receiving a fine delivery from the left-armer (practically his only one of the morning) that straightened sharply back into him.

Smith was less convincing as he scored his five off 21 balls, before he was dismissed in Adil’s first over in Test cricket, edging into the slips, where second slip Younis Khan dived in front of first slip to take the catch. It was a good delivery just outside off stump that bounced a bit more than expected, but Smith’s angled bat towards midwicket was as much to blame as anything else.

South Africa were in some bother at 38 for two, but Amla came in and immediately started middling the ball. He fed off the left-armer’s deliveries angled into him, scoring freely on the leg-side, and reached his 27th Test half-century in the over before lunch, in 102 minutes off 76 balls, with nine fours.

Du Plessis also looked in fine form as he went to 29, collecting three magnificent fours – through the covers, straight and square on the off side – in Adil’s fourth and last over of the morning.

With the inexperienced seamers struggling to regain the upper hand, off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was introduced in the 18th over, but both Amla and Du Plessis continued to score with freedom, using their feet well, and purring along to their 50 partnership off just 74 balls.

With the early moisture having been burnt off and the green tinge gradually disappearing from the pitch, the table is set for the South African batsmen to prosper, even in the absence of Jacques Kallis.

The master batsman injured a calf muscle on Thursday, on one of the rare occasions he attends optional training, and has been replaced by Kyle Abbott, the in-form Dolphins seamer who will earn his first Test cap after excelling in the Sunfoil Series with 49 wickets.

South Africa were on track to defend their mediocre score when rain washed out the second T20 international against England at Old Trafford in Manchester on Monday.

 – http://www.supersport.com/cricket/sa-team/news/120910/Rain_ruins_SAs_victory_chances

South Africa had their banker, Hashim Amla, to thank as his 47 not out lifted them to 77 for five in their nine overs. England were in the fifth over of their chase, and were already two down with just 29 runs on the board, when the rain intensified to such an extent that the umpires had to abandon play.

The visitors were asked to bat first after losing the toss and Amla, opening the batting, adapted straight away to the shortest format of the game.

Rain as soon as the players were in place caused a two-and-a-half hour delay and reduced the match to nine overs a side, and there was some surprise that Amla still opened the batting. But thank goodness he did as there was a steady procession of batsmen coming in and going straight out at the other end.

Richard Levi (0), AB de Villiers (1) and Albie Morkel (3) all fell to limp attacking strokes as South Africa slipped to 37 for three in the fifth over.

Steven Finn began the rot with the first delivery, getting pace and bounce from a terrific pitch and just brushing Levi’s gloves on the way through to wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter.

De Villiers then popped up an attempted pull off Finn in his next over, Jade Dernbach taking a juggling catch running back from deep mid-on.

Morkel fell to the medium-pace of Luke Wright, but Amla was a revelation, his incredible ability to plunder runs in any format being proven again as he hammered 47 not out off 30 balls, with seven fours.

England failed to police the area behind square on the off side well enough as Amla found the gaps there with precise placement, wonderful timing and occasionally brute force.

JP Duminy (5) and Justin Ontong (1) fell cheaply in the sixth and seventh overs, finally bringing Jacques Kallis to the crease. South Africa’s greatest batsman said what he needed to say about his demotion with the bat, scoring 13 not out off seven balls, with two fours.

Dernbach bowled two top-class overs at the death, taking one for 12, while off-spinner Graeme Swann was a handful with 1-11 in two overs. Wright bowled a valuable single over for four runs and the crucial wicket of Morkel, while Finn was a menace with the new ball, taking 2-17 in his pair of overs.

But Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn are the top new-ball pair in world cricket and they soon had England under pressure in their reply.

Morkel bowled two superb overs up front for just eight runs, while Steyn removed Kieswetter for one as the wicketkeeper/batsman tried a pull/drive on the up and could only send a catch steepling practically as high as the floodlights, Robin Peterson taking a truly fine catch, diving at the last instant, at deep mid-on.

Wright (14) top-edged a hook off Albie Morkel to his brother Morne, who took a good catch running around from fine leg, but that also proved to be the end of the match as the rain, which had been falling for the entire innings, intensified.

South Africa, more than a dozen runs ahead on Duckworth/Lewis at that stage, were just five balls away from a completed match and they deserve full marks for their outstanding bowling and fielding in slippery conditions with a sodden ball.