Sweet, mighty flourish
AS Hashim Amla prepares to play in his 100th Test at the Wanderers today, STUART HESS looks back at his five best innings for the Proteas and also analyses his growth as a player who many initially thought wasn’t up to Test standard.
JOHANNESBURG: Remember when Hashim Amla was not good enough for international cricket? That was a long time ago. Critics included the uber batting technicians for whom that twirl of the bat before he made contact with the ball was just too quirky; the pseudo psychoanalysts reckoned he was too passive, and then there were the types still not comfortable with Amla’s race and even his religion.
To all of them, Amla was not a Test player. That was back in the summer of 2004-05 when a South African team in the midst of transition lost in India – where Amla made his debut – and then to Michael Vaughan’s England team. That was a summer that saw AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn make their debuts, while Mark Boucher was dropped. Looking back, it all seems chaotic.
That Amla didn’t initially succeed in that kind of environment, seems perfectly understandable. He scored 62 runs across his first six Test innings, was dropped after the New Year’s Test which SA won against England and was later recalled for a late season series against New Zealand in which he made his maiden Test century at Newlands.
However even that achievement was greeted with a kind of cynical appreciation – the pitch at Newlands was flat, three other guys scored hundreds including James Franklin.
It was only about 18 months later that Amla could be said to have nailed down a place in the Proteas Test team when he made his second century, also against New Zealand, with his side under pressure and question marks still swirling around about his worthiness as a Test player.
That unbeaten 176 after he’d been dropped by Brendon McCullum on two – it was a very simple chance too – proved to be the turning point for Amla.
He backed up that hundred with another in the following Test, again sharing a vital partnership with Jacques Kallis after the early dismissals of the openers and his career has not looked back since. There have been a further 22 Test centuries, including three double hundreds and of course the historic 311 not out at The Oval in 2012, which have marked him as one of the pre-eminent players of the modern era and arguably one of the greatest batsmen this country has produced.
Along with Kallis and De Villiers, Amla forged a formidable triumvirate whose run output was one of the cornerstones of SA’s successes from 2007 to 2012, when the Proteas were the best Test side in the world.
Graeme Smith was another with whom Amla forged many vital and big partnerships and the former SA captain always believed it was one of Amla’s strong points. In partnership with Kallis, the pair averaged 61.29 together, shared 11 century stands, three of which were over 300 runs and another three over 200.
In seeking to deflect attention off his own achievements, Amla often pointed out how enjoyable it was at the other end watching Kallis bat as if his own efforts were somehow a stain on the scene. They were not.
Tightening his technique – which for any player, was imperative after his initial forays in the international arena – did nothing to diminish the aesthetics of his batting. The “wristy” flicks through the leg side were a trademark even before he’d established himself at the elite level, but his play through the off-side has been a delight to behold too. The cover drive is played with a sweet flourish and the straight drive is joyous, the full face being offered to the bowler so as to provide him with the clearest view of the maker’s name.
As a person, Amla is friendly, clever and has a charmingly dry wit, and as a senior player in the team has recently – especially in his short period as captain – become even more aware of the need to speak up for the challenges black players face in SA.
“The first time you play Test cricket everybody doubts you because of the colour of your skin. Even though you’ve got the stats to back it up domestically, everybody doubts you for various reasons,” Amla remarked a year ago as he reflected on Temba Bavuma’s historic century against England.
“Personally, I know the pressure players of colour go through when they first come into the set up, especially in our country. It was emotional for a lot of us, a lot of us felt it was a victory for the Proteas in a sense that the team environment is in a really good space. I hope I played a small part in his success and I’m glad that he quietened a lot of people down.”
Amla of course is currently facing whispers about his own form, but the questions are different to what they were 12 years ago. The excellence with which he’s played and the remarkable consistency he’s shown over a long period means he’s shut up inquiries about technique, temperament and yes, race, although the latter, in SA only to some extent.
This week, the hope is that one of the best players we’ve had the privilege of watching can summon up something special to mark a major milestone and lay the platform for a few more years of success.
Five of the best Hashim Amla innings
176* vs New Zealand, Wanderers, November 2007
Having survived initial doubts about temperament and technique a year before when he made his maiden Test century against the same opponents, Amla was once again under the pump as uncertainties were raised about whether he was the right man for the No 3 spot in the SA order. He was averaging just over 25 after 30 Test innings when he made this hundred and it came after he was dropped on two by McCullum in the second innings. This knock was very much the start of the lengthy period of dominance that saw him become one of the modern greats. He shared a partnership of 330 runs for the third wicket with Kallis that ultimately set up a comfortable win for the Proteas.
311 vs England, The Oval, August 2012
The highest Test score by a South African and also the second longest – after Gary Kirsten’s 14-and-a-halfhour epic in 1999 – this was an innings of great skill and patience at a venue SA had not won at previously. Amla came to the crease in the third over on Friday afternoon and only stopped batting 186 overs later when Smith declared the innings close at tea time on the Sunday. He dismantled Graeme Swann and made the much vaunted England pace attack look extremely limp. Along the way there were stands of 259 with Smith and an unbeaten third wicket partnership of 377 with Kallis. Truly one of the great achievements in SA sport.
196 vs Australia, the Waca, November 2012
In Ricky Ponting’s final Test, Amla stole the show with an innings that left his teammates and the opposition in awe. It started late on day two with a stunning assault against an attack featuring Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson. Amla, cut drove and flicked his way to 99 not out at stumps off only 84 balls. He duly completed his hundred the next morning and continued to punish the Australian attack, as the Proteas built a massive lead. This was Amla at the peak of his powers, arguably his most dominant Test performance.
253* vs India, Nagpur, February 2010
Two wickets down by the seventh over, another innings from Amla in which he had to display great concentration to put SA in an advantageous position. Although not the raging turner that greeted the Proteas when they played at the venue in 2015, the pitch nevertheless gave plenty of assistance to the two Indian spinners Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra. Amla’s footwork was a feature of this 11-hour effort, in which he nullified the spinners and then once again in partnership with Kallis added 340 for third wicket to provide the foundation for an innings victory
139* vs Sri Lanka, Colombo, July 2014
A display of great willpower and concentration as Amla, in his first series as captain sought to protect a series lead against a determined Sri Lankan side, who’d already notched up 421 in their first innings. From SA’s first innings on, Amla had already decided that the draw was the best his side could hope for so he dug in for over eight hours and compiled his first century as captain. That innings set the tone, the rest of the players followed and the Proteas were able to hang on for a draw and a great series win.