Wanted: A new Test captain
● Only Graeme Smith and Hansie Cronjé have captained SA in more men’s Tests than Faf du Plessis, and the wear and tear is starting to show.
Smith, now a television commentator, is three years older than Du Plessis. But, in cutaway shots during the series in India, he looked the younger of the two as events lurched from calamity to catastrophe to car crash.
“It’s been the toughest part of my captaincy journey; not even captaining, playing,” Du Plessis admitted to reporters in Johannesburg on Friday.
If the series was a bad movie, SA were the heavies in the cheap leather jackets who keep getting shot in the opening scene.
Smith led SA 108 times and Cronjé 53. Du Plessis has done the job in 32 Tests. How many more might he have left in a tank that could have been hit by a stray bullet in that bad movie?
“The easiest thing would be to run away,” Du Plessis said. “As a leader of the team, it’s important that you set the example that you are here to fight.
“Even when it’s the toughest time and even when everyone else sees no light, you still fight for that light.”
He is raging hard. But the light is dying. Words like “process” and “transition” have seeped into his explanations for why things have gone so wrong. For some, those sound like excuses and are a long way from a plan to improve.
Du Plessis has been every inch what a captain should be; a man of grit and gumption who is eminently followable. But is he still the best choice to lead SA against an England team eager to emulate their one-day success?
We’re likely to find out when the series starts in Centurion on Boxing Day because all indications are Du Plessis will still be in charge, even if that seems a duty more than a decision.
“The easiest thing for me, even after the World Cup, would have been to say I am going to press the eject button and I am going to go.
“But it’s not where I am at the moment. I still feel that it’s important for me to fight for this team.
“It’s not about me. It’s about me serving the Proteas team. So as long as that fire is still burning strong inside me I will try to continue for as long as possible.”
Would a clean break for the England series be a better approach? It’s not as if SA’s performances could get worse. Or would that be a fatal shock to the system of a team already on life support?
Herschelle Gibbs is never afraid of treading boldly, but even he demurred in the face of the suggestion that a change of leadership now was a good idea: “Nobody deserves to be captain or is making a claim for it with their performances.
“All of the players are fighting for a place, except the usual candidates.
“So I’d say make a decision on the captaincy after the England series.”
If not Du Plessis, who? Answering that question isn’t helped by the fact that he is, notwithstanding Quinton de Kock’s elevation for the T20 series in India, SA’s all-format skipper.
Sources inside the relevant structures have told the Sunday Times that Temba Bavuma is likely SA’s next Test captain, that Aiden Markram is being lined up to take over the one-day reins and is also part of the Test debate, and that De Kock is the first choice as T20 captain.
Rassie van der Dussen has an outsider’s chance of being tapped in one of the whiteball formats and Kagiso Rabada’s ability to “form a rapport with guys — when he talks, people listen” could see him formally elevated to a vice-captaincy.
But, for now, Du Plessis isn’t going anywhere: “We should be praying he doesn’t pull the plug after the England series,” an insider said. “We need him more than ever.”
So as long as that fire is still burning strong inside me I will try to continue
Faf du Plessis
Proteas captain
A new captain for the Proteas Test side