Teammates, rivals hail #MightyHash
‘Hash will be the last guy to play 100 Tests for South Africa’
JOHANNESBURG: Hashim Amla just wants to treat his 100th Test as another game but for teammates, rivals, commentators and his employers at Cricket South Africa, the opportunity to reflect on a great career is not something they will just let slide by.
Amla has been reluctant to partake in any pre-match hoopla – he turned down an offer of an official celebratory dinner on the eve of the third Test against Sri Lanka, which starts today at the Wanderers. He will become just the eighth South African player to reach that landmark.
But on social media and through various interviews and at press conferences this week, rivals as well as past and presentteammates highlighted the great value the 33 year old provided – not just as a cricketer, but as a person.
“It’s an amazing, amazing effort,” Proteas captain Faf du Plessis said about Amla’s milestone. “But for him it’s just another game, he doesn’t want any extra attention, he just wants to rock up and play another game of cricket.”
Cricket SA have been running a social media campaign with the tag #MightyHash, where tributes have come in from former Australian captain Michael Clarke, ex-England skipper Kevin Pietersen, current England bowler Stuart Broad and West Indies great and now a renowned television commentator Michael Holding.
CSA will also present Amla with 4.5 ounces of gold as part of its “milestone rewards programme”, and a framed montage of highlights of his career, before the start of play today.
Du Plessis said a milestone like Amla’s should be cherished, for he doesn’t believe it will happen too often in the future: “I’m going to make a big call and say Hash will be the last guy to play 100 Tests for South Africa because of the way the game is changing.”
“If you look at Hash, AB (de Villiers), Graeme (Smith), Jacques (Kallis) and the others who’ve played 100 Tests, it was during a period of a lot of Test cricket over a long period of time. Now, there’s lots of T20s... the game is changing, you won’t play for as long because there is so much more cricket,” Du Plessis said.
Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews called Amla “a wonderful human being”. “What a fantastic player he has been right throughout for South Africa. Such a wonderful human being, so nice on and off the field. He’s been an amazing player, hopefully he continues to do well, just not tomorrow,” said Mathews.
Amla joins Kallis, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Smith, Gary Kirsten and De Villiers as the only players to represent South Africa in 100 Tests.