Race for Test captaincy
Simons and Prince run rule on Elgar, Markram and Bavuma
Khanyiso Tshwaku canvassed the opinions of Proteas ODI seamer and former coach Eric Simons and 66-times capped SA stalwart and Cape Cobras coach Ashwell Prince, who captained the Proteas twice against
Sri Lanka in 2006, as the Proteas seek a new Test captain when Test cricket eventually resumes Strengths
● The 30-year-old Bavuma has already tasted domestic success when he captained the Lions to the Four-Day and T20 Franchise trophies in the 2018/19 season. Proteas assistant coach Enoch Nkwe was the coach while Bavuma contributed 347 runs from six games at an average of 34.70.
In the T20 tournament he got a trophywinning ton in the final against the
Warriors.
What’s impressed Simons about Bavuma is his public demeanour and how he has come across as a deep thinker about the game.
“From what we see on the outside, we get different impressions of people and we may be wrong, but what I enjoy about Temba is how he speaks at press conferences. He doesn’t give the obvious answers. He comes with a different perspective and at times, he questions the person who poses a question to him.
“He’s a lateral thinker and he thinks about things differently and I enjoy that as a coach. As a leader, you have to be your own person. Just from the outside, that looks like a strength to me.
“The ability of not saying the obvious and avoiding the clichés, but to give clear thoughts and comments that are well thought out is a massive strength.”
Weaknesses
● Though it may not be seen as a glaring weakness, Bavuma didn’t have the runs to keep him in the Test side for the summer series against England.
His dropping and the mixed messages coming out of the Proteas camp detonated a political grenade, which Bavuma responded to with runs for the Lions in the four-day competition.
There is the political landmine that will have to be carefully negotiated with a Bavuma captaincy considering the fact that he has admitted he has not scored as many Test runs as he would have liked.
The fact that he took responsibility for his own run-scoring weaknesses and how he handled the controversy around him was viewed as a positive by Simons.
“I don’t think it affected him and that’s the most important part. How he dealt with it, which was very well and with confidence, was more about him the individual and seeing how a team would believe in him.
You have to live in the spotlight at that level because it’s part and parcel of your job. He’s comfortable and has come to terms with it. He dealt with the matter in a positive way, so I don’t think it’ll bother him. He and Dean have had battles along the way in terms of the way they’ve played and in terms of having to structure their careers. That stands him in good stead.”
Strengths
● At 25, Markram has already played 20 Tests and had a wonderful start to his career in the 2017/18 season when he piled on the runs against Bangladesh, India and
Australia.
Second-season blues, and what looks like third-season blues, quickly caught up with him as the runs dried up on the home front and on the road.
His struggles on the subcontinent have been glaring, with 10 innings in Sri Lanka and India totalling 104 runs at 10.4.
However, he remains the only South African to have captained a team to victory in the 2014 under19 Cricket World Cup where he led a team with Kagiso Rabada and Andile Phehlukwayo with a maturity that was beyond his 19 years at the time.
He was earmarked for leadership then and while he took his time to develop in the franchise structures, he took to international cricket like a duck does to water. It’s a quality that impressed Simons.
“Externally, he looks like a confident person, a person who knows what he wants and how to go about getting what he wants. He could be a person who could lead by example with regards to how he goes about things.”
Weaknesses
● Markram’s first taste of international leadership was a daunting baptism of fire against a strong Indian ODI side led by a seething Virat Kohli in early 2018. Having lost the Test series 2-1, India stormed back to win the six-match ODI series 5-1. Markram lost four of those games while not converting his starts.
His lack of Test runs and recent injuries led to robust debates of whether he should be in the team. Simons said his recent dip in form counts against him.
“I’m a little bit concerned with how he wants to go about things. His path was already set out in terms of him being spoken about as the next captain and he was going to do this and that. The knock he’s taken, not just with the lack of runs in a bad series, but also the injuries, have made him doubt himself a bit more. It might be a bit premature for him at this stage.
“If he had the weight of runs behind him, he could have been the obvious choice. The fact that he hasn’t and the fact I believe he has question marks with regards to himself, it might be a better time to let him find his feet again and let him get back to the Aiden Markram that everyone knew. His confidence has taken a bit of a knock and he needs to find his feet again.”
Strengths
● As the most experienced candidate with 63 Tests since his debut in 2012, the 32year-old Elgar stands out as the most obvious leadership option.
He led the team twice when former captain Faf du Plessis was absent because of paternity leave (England at Lord’s in 2017) and over-rate suspension (Pakistan at the Wanderers in 2019). He comprehensively lost the England game, the first Test of that series, but won the dead rubber third Test against Pakistan. Simons, who as coach between 2002 and 2004 presided over Cricket SA’s director of cricket Graeme Smith’s long-term leadership as a 22-yearold, lauded Elgar’s fighting spirit.
It is a quality exhibited by the fact that in the three times Elgar carried his bat, he has won once.
“As things stand, he’s assured of his position. That’s one of the most important things as a captain. You need to be assured of your place in the team. He must be somebody that they regard as an option and you can see he’s a tough guy.
“I don’t mean it in the way he speaks, but he stands up as an opening batsman for his team and that’s a tough job to undertake. He’s got a lot of mental toughness and just the way he’s gone through his career, it shows that he’s got it. He’s got to be one of the guys who gets a chance.”
Weaknesses
● Simons admitted he doesn’t know Elgar well enough to judge him from a tactical perspective, but said there is an element of emotional intelligence that Elgar has not quite exuded that is necessary from a leadership perspective.
While Simons said Elgar’s battlereadiness is an important ingredient for a transitional Proteas team that’s shed almost all of its seasoned personnel from the Smith era, finding the emotional balance is critical.
“I need to know the guy, but one of the things I noticed is that he’s got a bit of a tough-guy mentality. He calls it as he sees it, but a modern leader needs to have the ability of not to want everyone to be like them. They have to bring the best out of everyone in terms of who they are. Because he’s a tough guy and he deals with things in a certain way, he needs to have the emotional intelligence to understand that sometimes some guys need to have a talking to, while some guys just need an arm around the shoulder.
“As a leader, you need to be all things to all men at times. That speaks to emotional intelligence and what that means to different people. I don’t know if he has that ability or that strength. If he expects everyone to be the same as him, that’s often the downfall of leaders. You have to be able to see what influences and drives an individual.”