VERN OF ALL SEASONS:
Philander provides Proteas allrounder answer
Two runs were there for the taking. Philander ran hard to the non-striker’s end, turned, and took a step or two back towards the business end — only to see Imran Tahir dead still and holding up a hand to stop the traffic.
For an instant, Philander, his shoulders set square, his chin jutted, was about to demand that second run. But he let Tahir have his way and, several tense minutes later, SA forced the draw to win their first series in Sri Lanka since 1993.
Philander’s reaction to Tahir’s baulk — his conviction that the responsibility for saving the match rested largely with him, his implicit insistence that he could and would get the job done — told us he had made the mental leap to being a genuine allrounder.
He was, at least in his own head, no longer a bowler who could bat a bit. In fact, that has been true for more than a year.
Philander batted for almost two hours for his 27 not out on Monday. Without that, SA would have lost the match and drawn the series.
They did lose to Australia at Newlands in March, but not because of Philander’s batting. In fact, his calm competence took SA to within 27 balls of drawing the match. And it also earned him an unbeaten 51.
Against India at the Wanderers in December, he was locked and loaded on 25 not out when SA inexplicably whimped out of chasing down what would have been a world-record victory target, despite having three wickets in hand.
At Lord’s in August 2012, Philander’s 61 and 35 kept SA on course for the win that would confirm them as cricket’s No 1 test team.
His 74 against Pakistan in Centurion in February last year went unheralded in the understandable fuss over Kyle Abbott’s 7/29 on debut.
In 33 test innings, 30 of them undertaken at No 8 or lower in the order, Philander has batted for an hour or more 13 times, faced at least 50 balls a dozen times, kept his wicket nine times, and scored four half- centuries. And he has done all that with the attitude of a man who belongs at the crease.
“He surely has potential to be an allrounder asset to the side,” said Trevor Goddard, who opened the batting 39 times in his 41 tests and bowled first change on 28 occasions.
“He was unlucky to have vital catches dropped in this [Sri Lankan] series, but he has the ability to bowl tightly and put pressure on the opposition, which is a great help to the other bowlers and of course the skipper.
“He seems to handle the bat well, has proved himself, and done a great job coming in as low as he does — perhaps greater opportunities lie ahead. He will take the break when it comes.”
Despite Philander not having earned a test cap under Mickey Arthur, the former SA coach thought he was capable of developing his batting.
“I firmly believe that Vernon can become a genuine allrounder,” said Arthur. “His technique is solid enough and he plays well off both the front and the back foot. He has the ability to defend and attack off both the front and the back foot.
“His mindset to batting is good and he reads the situation really well. He must understand that being a genuine allrounder will bring extra expectation and pressure, but I am sure he can handle that.”
Could adjusting to that new reality be part of the reason why Philander has not taken a fivewicket haul for 21 test innings, considering he had nine after 28 innings? It could. But we know he can bowl. And bat.
MAN OF THE MOMENT: Vernon Philander has come of age