Rainbow Nation arrive under a cloud
South Africa land here this week with an experienced core but weaknesses showing around the edges
Cricket in the Rainbow Nation of South Africa is describing the trajectory of a rainbow – which is encouraging for England ahead of their three-match one-day series against South Africa, followed by three Twenty20 internationals and then a four-Test series.
South Africa’s cricketers competed so strongly on the world stage after readmission in 1991 that they could be bracketed among the best. They have lost only one Test series in England, in 1998, and they rose to No 1 in the Test rankings under Graeme Smith. In one-day internationals they are still No 1, but the rainbow – having shone gloriously – is on a downward curve.
The imperative to observe quotas, and the departure of seasoned players to county cricket as Kolpaks, are now biting. Last autumn South Africa wiped out Australia 5-0 in a one-day series at home. Since then, Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw have moved to England and Hampshire, while Dale Steyn, who has not bowled after an operation on his right shoulder, has not been selected for the one-day series against England, which starts at Headingley on May 24.
South Africa, who begin their tour with a 50-over match at Hove against Sussex on Friday, still have a very sturdy core of accomplished cricketers: it is the standard of the players who fill the last couple of places and the reserves that has dropped. Rossouw might not have made their starting XI for this series, even though he scored a century against Australia; nor Colin Ingram, who has thrown in his lot with Glamorgan and was voted one-day player of last year by the Professional Cricketers Association. But had merit been the only criterion, they would have been in the squad, keeping the XI up to the mark.
The quota target of six non-white players per team does not reduce the quality of South Africa’s one-day batting. Quinton de Kock is their young player to watch, a wicketkeeper-opening batsman who, in his first year of one-day internationals, aged 21, hit three consecutive centuries against India with a fluency of left-handed strokeplay that was reminiscent of Adam Gilchrist. He is now 24 and has 12 ODI centuries to his name, but he retains the boyish grin.
Hashim Amla, de Kock’s partner, has scored two hundreds in this year’s Indian Premier League, while in 50-over internationals he averages just that: 50. South Africa’s middle order consists of Faf du Plessis, who is their Test and T20 captain; A B de Villiers, who is their one-day captain; JP Duminy, who, unlike the others, can bowl a bit; and David Miller, the batsman who might have been kept Rossouw and Ingram out of the team. De Villiers, like Amla, will come straight from the IPL, but he has not been enjoying the same success: just one fifty in this 10th edition, and that was at the outset. Indeed, it might be asked if De Villiers is enjoying his cricket at all. World-weariness set in long before he reached the age of 33. He used to be the star of the IPL – ahead of Chris Gayle or any Indian player – and it took so much out of him, or put so much into his pocket, that he decided to give up one format for South Africa, then another.
In his last bout of introspection, De Villiers opted to miss the four-Test series in England. His withdrawal jeopardises South Africa’s chances and makes them more likely to lose their second series here since readmission.
It also jeopardises de Villiers’s reputation as a great cricketer. He is undoubtedly a great one-day batsman, who raised the bar with his ability to hit the ball all round the wicket, not only to the boundary but over it. However, a batsman who has made a single Test century in England has not proved that he has mastered all bowling in all conditions.
In South Africa’s one-day bowling, Abbott is a major loss. Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada, Chris Morris – a million-dollar all-rounder in the IPL – and Imran Tahir, whose googly is even more effective than Adil Rashid’s, are strengths. But then come weaknesses which England can exploit, not only in this one-day series but also in the Champions Trophy, should they meet South Africa in the semi-final or final.
Is De Villiers enjoying his cricket at all? World-weariness set in long before he reached the age of 33