Smith clears up some issues
IN THE BALANCE: FAF DU PLESSIS’ ROLE AS SKIPPER IS YET TO BE DECIDED
Former skipper Smith says he wants to stay on as director of cricket.
Proteas wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock will be the Proteas’ one-day international captain for the foreseeable future, but the decisions on whether Faf du Plessis will continue as Twenty20 and Test captain are not done and dusted yet, acting director of cricket Graeme Smith said yesterday.
De Kock had been named captain for the three-match ODI series against England that starts on 4 February, but there was no indication from Cricket South Africa (CSA) as to whether Du Plessis was being given a rest from the captaincy, had asked for the break, had completely resigned or had been axed.
Du Plessis has, since last year’s World Cup, been talking about the importance of finding his successor and has hinted at standing back to allow other players captaincy experience in white-ball cricket. Smith seemed to suggest the national selection panel had decided to accelerate the process.
“It’s part of our succession plan for 2023. We still see Faf having a role as a player and he will still get opportunities moving forward.
“But he has been quite honest that we probably won’t see him around by 2023 and the leadership has been an issue of late.
“Quinny is tactically good, although there are areas of captaincy where he will need to develop.
“But he is a permanent appointment.
“The T20 captain is still Faf, but I will sit down with him during the ODI series and we will have a robust discussion about his future.
“And there’s time after this last Test before we play our next Test, so we will also discuss how he sees his future in that format.
“Those discussions will happen post all the emotion of this series,” Smith said at CSA headquarters.
The record-breaking former Proteas skipper acknowledged that De Kock would need support if he was to handle the myriad of off-field issues a captain has to deal with.
“Anyone taking over the captaincy finds it a challenge. I know I did, but tactically, in terms of his instincts and changing bowlers, and in his safe space of the changeroom, Quinny is very good.
“But there’s going to be a lot of stuff he hasn’t had to deal with – extra press conferences, selection meetings and just answering your phone more.
“It would be naive to think he’s the finished article right now, but CSA will help him develop into, hopefully, an outstanding leader,” Smith said.
He confirmed that he would like to continue as director of cricket on a full-time basis.
“But there is still a lot of uncertainty around CSA. I’m trying to put things in place that I can run with.”
He confirmed there had been no formal discussions with either AB de Villiers or specific Kolpak players about returning to the Proteas fold.