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AB de Villiers and the SA captaincy

PostPosted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 12:29 pm
by mikesiva
'AB de Villiers has refused to commit his long-term future to Test cricket despite being named South Africa's stand-in captain and has warned that leading players will leave international cricket behind unless there are significant changes within the game. De Villiers, who was reported to be considering early retirement at the start of the England series when he also spoke about managing his workload, has once again emphasised the need for time off and explained his own uncertainty in the current set-up. There have been a few rumours floating around, and in most rumours there is always a little bit of truth," de Villiers said. "It's not just in the last while; it's for two or three years I've been searching for the right answers, to play a little bit less cricket in one way or another, to keep myself fresh and to keep enjoying the game. Every now and then in the past few years I've found myself on the pitch not enjoying myself as much as I should be, and that raises concerns within myself. I've been searching for answers and speaking to people and obviously that's leaked a bit."'

http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-afric ... 61765.html

"How else can you interpret AB de Villiers' pre-match comments? At a time he might be celebrating his promotion to captaincy, he was instead admitting that he will have to consider his future priorities given the demands of international cricket and his earning potential elsewhere. No-one could blame him if he walks away, but the uncomfortable thought remains that, once you take players like de Villiers and perhaps Dale Steyn out of the team, the entire spectacle is diminished. Test cricket is meant to be the pinnacle; not the best of the rest."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-afric ... 61853.html

Re: AB de Villiers and the SA captaincy

PostPosted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 11:52 pm
by m@tt
SA already play less cricket than the likes of England. I worked out yesterday that they about 20 less days of Test cricket a year and a similar amount of ODIs and T20s.

I guess there's three elements in play... rotation (do SA rest AB enough?), money (SA don't pay that well) and domestic T20 tournaments (can the schedule be shifted around to free up space for IPL/BBL?). A fourth is SA politics - AB really didn't like it when they interfered with the World Cup XI, though that is more a side issue to what AB has been talking about.

Re: AB de Villiers and the SA captaincy

PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:25 pm
by mikesiva
"de Villiers has dropped a hint that he might be willing after all to lead South Africa's Test team in the longer term, after stating that it was pressure, not personnel, that led to the side's downfall on a catastrophic third day at Johannesburg. De Villiers, who had been rumoured to be on the verge of retirement from Test cricket amid concerns about his workload, quashed any such rumours in the wake of South Africa's seven-wicket defeat at The Wanderers."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-afric ... 62811.html

Re: AB de Villiers and the SA captaincy

PostPosted: Mon Dec 12, 2016 8:43 pm
by mikesiva
'de Villiers has stepped down as South Africa's Test captain with immediate effect and has been ruled out of the three Tests against Sri Lanka as he continues to recover from elbow surgery. De Villiers endorsed his stand-in, Faf du Plessis, to take over permanently and the CSA board have confirmed du Plessis' appointment.'

http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica ... 72230.html

SL tour of SA, Dec 18 - Feb 10

PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 11:46 am
by Dr Cricket
What the hell is Ab De villiers doing does he want to play test or not.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica ... 78051.html

Re: SL tour of SA, Dec 18 - Feb 10

PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 1:18 pm
by mikesiva
bhaveshgor wrote:What the hell is Ab De villiers doing does he want to play test or not.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica ... 78051.html

This soap opera has been going on since he threatened to throw his toys out of the pram over the amla captaincy.

My guess is that de Villiers wants to stay fit for the ipl. Just like chris gayle.
8-)
Bavuma might have a second chance now. His main challengers in the absence of de Villiers are now Thujnis de bruin and dwayne Pretorius.

Re: SL tour of SA, Dec 18 - Feb 10

PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 3:42 pm
by andy
He's either in the side or he's not...you can't pick and choose when you play

SL tour of SA, Dec 18 - Feb 10

PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 5:06 pm
by Making_Splinters
AB is in an odd position that he is one of the best players in South Africa in all three formats, he's also had injury problems of late and is likely thinking when is career ending injury coming along.

South Africa won't say that he has to play every Test and he's going to take advantage of that.

Re: SL tour of SA, Dec 18 - Feb 10

PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 3:03 pm
by Making_Splinters
I suppose some may have forgot tone that South Africa's current skipper was not too long ago a kolpak himself.

Re: AB de Villiers and the SA captaincy

PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 3:59 pm
by mikesiva
"de Villiers has ruled himself out of South Africa's four-Test series in England in July-August and the two-match home series against Bangladesh in September-October, and is targeting a return to the longest format in home matches against India and Australia. De Villiers, who last played in whites in January 2016, stressed that he cannot commit to anything further than March 2018 at this stage but insisted the 2019 World Cup is still in his sights."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica ... 78267.html

Re: AB de Villiers and the SA captaincy

PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 5:23 pm
by andy
Getting ridiclous, selectors can opt to 'rest' players for series, but a player should never pick and choose when he plays, sets a dangerous precedent...Also only a couple of days ago Domingo, said that AB would be playing against England, so he's pulled himself out of 'crucial' series...Bavuma will get a longer run now then

Re: AB de Villiers and the SA captaincy

PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 6:52 pm
by Making_Splinters
If AB is genuinely worried about his elbow, then what is the real issue with his decision?

Re: AB de Villiers and the SA captaincy

PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 8:54 pm
by meninblue
So will he miss IPL 2017?

Re: AB de Villiers and the SA captaincy

PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 9:38 pm
by Making_Splinters
As far as I am aware he's going to play all South Arican domestic cricket and the IPL planning on returning to Test cricket next season.

Re: AB de Villiers and the SA captaincy

PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 11:03 pm
by Arthur Crabtree
ABDV may as well retire from Tests. No harm in a senior player having a thoughtful schedule, but to play so rarely, he might as well accept that the team will move on without him.