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.

Mark Boucher is still such a highly-respected member of the South African test team that the selectors have not yet begun a succession plan for him, judging by the squad to tour New Zealand that was announced on Wednesday.

JP Duminy replacing Ashwell Prince is the only change to the test squad that featured against Sri Lanka and it is now almost inevitable that Boucher will go to England in July as the first-choice wicketkeeper.

Convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson told SuperCricket on Wednesday that the option of a back-up to the world record-holder had not been discussed.

“We didn’t want to look too far ahead and I don’t want to speculate on the England tour. At the moment, this is our best squad and if we try and look to the England tour then we’ll be looking too far ahead. We considered this tour in isolation and we’ll pick for the future as and when we need to,” Hudson said.

“That’s why there is no reserve wicketkeeper for the test side, but having AB de Villiers in the wings does help.”

Critics of Boucher – whose batting has come under the most scrutiny – should remember that the feisty veteran made an important 65 in the first test against Sri Lanka on a treacherous Centurion pitch. But those same critics will point to how his batting average has dropped from 54.28 in 2009/10 to 15.83 in the five tests played this season. And those rare misses behind the stumps have now increased to occasional.

There had been a school of thought that the selectors should have named a second wicketkeeper for the New Zealand tour and, depending on how Boucher performs in the three tests, at least the back-up would not be a total rookie for the daunting England trip.

Saying goodbye to someone who has performed so exceptionally and been such a vital part of the team for so long is always terrible, but South Africa will need runs – as well as safe catching – from their wicketkeeper in England, where it is not unusual for a team to be four down by lunch in the often overcast, seam-friendly conditions.

While the test squad is as expected, it is in the limited-overs squads that the selectors have made the most interesting changes.

Justin Ontong – who proved a great finisher for the Cobras en route to their One-Day Cup title with his clever hitting rather than big hitting – has been recalled for both the ODIs and the three T20 internationals.

It has been nearly three years since Ontong last played for South Africa, but his recall feels right given that he has just turned 32 and has been one of the most dominant batsmen in domestic cricket.

“Justin has matured as a player, he spent some time back in domestic cricket, but he’s had a great run, which is very heartening,” Hudson said. “Sometimes a player can maybe be exposed early on, but they can come back later when they understand their game better and are more mature.”

Ontong is likely to slot inside the middle-order, competing with the likes of Faf du Plessis and Albie Morkel for a place in the ODI team.

While Jacques Rudolph and Duminy currently have the inside track for the number six spot in the test team, Hudson hinted that Ontong was not too far off that squad either.

“The number six position has not yet been secured, it’s still open and we look forward to someone grabbing that spot and making it their own,” the former opening batsman said.

There are also clearly moves afoot to refresh the T20 side, with Ontong, Richard Levi and Marchant de Lange all receiving call-ups.

There is a changing of the guard at the top of the order, with Graeme Smith omitted and Cobras star Levi slated to open the batting in his place.

Jacques Kallis has also been rested from the shortest version of the game, but Hudson said there could still be room for both him and Smith in the squad for the ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka in September.

“I’m not closing the door on people, if someone’s good enough, they will play. We’ll still be choosing squads to go to Zimbabwe and England so there are still opportunities to mix-and-match.

“We’ll be going for consistency closer to September but we have quite exciting possibilities in terms of openers with Hashim, Richard, Jacques and Graeme,” Hudson said.

As Smith showed in the last two ODIs against Sri Lanka, it would be stupid to write him off as his experience and big-game temperament could be crucial in the World T20.