20 Questions with AB de Villiers
As some of you might remember, Sports Illustrated recently had the honour of having Proteas superstar AB de Villiers guest-edit the October edition.
As you would expect, AB was a hero during his time in the offices, game for anything and always willing to give you some of his time.
SI online cornered him for a quick video session of 20 Questions, and there were some revelations – including a first-hand account of who eats more during lunchtime in the Proteas set-up, and the most irritating player he has come up against.
Taking A Closer Look At The ICC Nominations
Dale Steyn
The late inclusion of Graeme Swann in the Cricketer of the Year category is obviously welcome, but are there others who should have made the cut as well, and some who are lucky to be there?
This column takes a look at the performances of those in the shortlist (if you can call it that), as well as those who’ve missed out on these nominations. The period under consideration is August 24, 2009 to August 10, 2010.
A look, first, at those who were nominated in the Test Player of the Year category: of the 16 in this list, nine have made it largely for their batting, two – Shane Watson and MS Dhoni – for their multiple skills, and five largely for their bowling.
At first glance the criteria seem to have been rather simple: among those who’ve scored 750 or more during this period, the top eight in terms of averages have all made the cut, with Tamim Iqbal in eighth place.
Thilan Samaraweera has scored fewer than 750, but then his has been a remarkable story of fighting back from a bullet wound sustained during the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009, and then scoring a bucketful of runs on his return.
The captaincy and wicketkeeping skills of Dhoni have obviously helped him win a place, but a couple of batsmen who’ll feel hard done by are VVS Laxman and Michael Clarke. Laxman scored 49 runs more than Samaraweera at an average that was six points more than Samaraweera’s, but doesn’t find a place in the list.
In 12 innings, Laxman topped 50 eight times and scored two centuries, including a match-winning unbeaten 103 against Sri Lanka earlier this month, and averaged nearly 85.
Clarke’s was a marginal case: in 10 Tests he scored 862 runs, averaged more than 57, and had two innings of more than 150 in consecutive matches.
Among the others who missed out were Ian Bell and Rahul Dravid: both averaged more than 60, but neither had an aggregate of more than 750.
Among the bowlers, only six took more than 40 wickets during this period. Five of them have made the list, with Mitchell Johnson the only one to miss out, with some justification – his 44 wickets have come at a cost of 29.06 each – higher than the averages of the other five.
Swann’s exclusion would have been a travesty, for he has taken 49 wickets during this period – the second-highest, after Mohammad Asif’s 51. Swann has also taken six five-fors, which is twice as many as the next-best bowler.
In terms of averages, though, the outstanding Dale Steyn heads the list: his 41 wickets have come at 20.78 each. Watson has been superb too, with a bowling average that is less than half his batting one, thanks largely to two five-fors against Pakistan earlier this summer.
The six batsmen who’ve scored more than 1000 runs in ODIs have all been nominated in that category and deservedly so, for they’ve all averaged more than 40 at a strike rate of over 80.
Tillakaratne Dilshan has the stand-out numbers among these six, averaging more than 57 at a strike-rate of more than 107, but there are three other batsmen who’ve scored less than 1000 runs at an outstanding rate: Sachin Tendulkar, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers have all averaged more than 60 at excellent strike rates.
Among the bowlers, Daniel Vettori and Ryan Harris have terrific stats: Vettori’s economy rate of 3.74 alone makes him a deserving candidate, while Harris has averaged two-and-a-half wickets per match, with three five-wicket hauls.
Like in the Tests category, Johnson is among the highest wicket-takers in this format too, with 41, but his average (28.07) and economy rate (5.10) are both among the higher ones. Watson too has been outstanding in ODIs – he is the second-highest run-getter and the highest wicket-taker during this period, with 48 scalps at an average of less than 22.
The surprise candidate in this list is Sehwag. No-one doubts his merits in the Test list, but his merits as an ODI batsman are somewhat dodgy. In 18 innings he has only one 50-plus innings, and an average of less than 30. His strike-rate is admittedly superb, but even taking that into account, his inclusion is a surprise.
Shahid Afridi would be justified in feeling aggrieved at his exclusion, as he has a higher average and strike-rate than Sehwag. Plus, he has contributed more as a bowler.
Which brings us to the nominations for the Cricketer of the Year.
The revised list has 17 names, after the late inclusion of Swann. Three of those players – Johnson, Clarke and Morne Morkel – have made that list without finding themselves in either the Test or ODI lists.
Johnson and Clarke have been among the wickets and runs in both formats – Johnson is also the fourth-highest wicket-taker in Twenty20 internationals during this period, but Morkel’s credentials are not as compelling: his Test stats are pretty good – 37 wickets in nine Tests at 24.62 – but he has only played seven ODIs and five Twenty20 internationals during this period.
Similarly, Harris has been terrific in ODIs, but has played only two Tests and three Twenty20 internationals, which makes his inclusion in the Cricketer of the Year category quite perplexing – even more so since the ICC had initially left out Swann, the second-highest wicket-taker in all categories combined during this period.
One player who deserved a spot ahead of Harris and Morkel is Mahela Jayawardene. Apart from his Test average of 70.75, he averaged 40.20 at a strike rate of 88 in ODIs, and almost 35 at a strike rate of 153 in Twenty20 internationals, in the process also scoring a hundred at the World Twenty20.
Was that another oversight by the ICC?
Courtesy of CricInfo.com
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- Swann added to top cricketer list (news.bbc.co.uk)
Bad Boy Benn Banned
Sulieman Benn
West Indies spinner Sulieman Benn has been suspended for breaching ICC conduct rules during last month’s third Test against South Africa.
The incident saw Benn inappropriately enter the opposition’s dressing-room at Kensington Oval, Barbados, provoking South Africa’s players and management. Benn pleaded guilty to behaviour “contrary to the spirit of the game”.
And because of previous violations he now faces a ban of one Test, or two ODIs, or two Twenty20s for the offence.
Jeff Crowe, of the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, said: “Whatever had gone on before Sulieman entered the Proteas’ dressing-room, while helping to explain his behaviour, cannot justify it.”
There had been an earlier on-field incident between Benn and South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn, who was fined his entire match fee after being found guilty of spitting in the direction of Benn.
“Clearly, Sulieman has acted inappropriately here and in a way that is contrary to the spirit of cricket,” said Crowe.
“We like the game to be played in a competitive way but, whether on or off the field, players must treat the opposition and the game itself with respect. That did not happen on this occasion and Sulieman has paid the price.”
Benn earned a ban of two one-day internationals following a confrontation with Australia players Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin during the Perth Test in December 2009.
Courtesy of BBC
South Africa Out Of World Twenty20
Pakistan knock the Proteas out of the World Twenty20.
South Africa were knocked out of the World Twenty20 by living up to their reputation of coming up short in crunch matches with an inexplicably limp batting display after a Charl Langeveldt masterclass in end-innings bowling had kept Pakistan to a gettable total.
The bedrock of the defending champions’ first victory in the Super Eights were Saeed Ajmal’s doosras and a sparkling Umar Akmal cameo, but Pakistan will also thank the redoubtable South African top-order for idling early in the chase.
Like in the first-round game against India, South Africa left the onslaught for too late. On a track which didn’t have too many demons, they were just three fours and three twos in the first ten overs from a line-up boasting some of the world’s finest hitters.
AB de Villiers responded to the climbing asking-rate with some belated power-hitting, but once he fell attempting an audacious scoop, Pakistan’s bowlers choked the runs again and South Africa went down by 11 runs.
There was still hope for South Africa after de Villiers fell, with two of the game’s best finishers, Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel, needing 47 off the final four.
But neither could get the ball away against the spinners, and few would have guessed that most of South Africa’s runs at the death would come from Johan Botha. Morkel was silenced by Pakistan’s plan of targeting his leg stump, and his ineffectiveness was highlighted by a dab to backward point for one to a shortish doosra from Ajmal off the first delivery of the final over when 17 was required.
But it will be churlish to blame the lower-order, after the top three, each of whom have nearly a decade’s worth of international experience, consumed 43 balls for their 38 runs.
Herschelle Gibbs who has been hit-or-miss for a long time now, pottered around before slugging a short ball to midwicket.
Graeme Smith’s ordinary tournament ended with a tame miscue to mid-on, and questions about the tempo of Jacques Kallis’ batting will resurface after he poked 22 at just more than a run-a-ball before holing out to long-on.
The match was slipping away from South Africa when they were at 71 for 4 after 13, but de Villiers exploded with a four and two sixes in one Abdur Rehman over to keep it alive. The second of those brought up his half-century, and a roar from a pumped-up de Villiers but when his attempted scoop off yet another Ajmal doosra lobbed to the keeper, Pakistan were back in charge.
In contrast to the listless batting, South Africa’s bowlers were immaculate at the start to keep Pakistan’s traditionally fragile top-order to 19 for 3, the worst performance in the first six overs in this competition.
Exhibit A in the gallery of poor shots was from Salman Butt, who pulled a short and wide delivery that he would have been better off looking to cut. Then the man picked to strengthen the batting, Khalid Latif, chipped to wide mid-on before Mohammad Hafeez’s troubles with the bat continued when he was lbw for 1.
The Akmal brothers started the firefighting by taking on the spinners. Roelof van der Merwe was taken apart by a bunch of slog-sweeps and Kamran’s powerful cut off Botha brought four more to double the total in two overs to 46.
van der Merwe was clobbered for three straight sixes in five deliveries before Gibbs swooped at backward point to get rid of Kamran, but with Pakistan batting down to No. 8 the game was even at 69 for 4 after 11.
The flood of runs continued with arrival of Afridi. Umar wowed the crowd with a paddle-scoop over short fine off the pacy Kallis, and Afridi muscled boundaries over cover and midwicket.
The horrors at the start were completely forgotten by the sprinkling of Pakistan fans in the ground after Umar scuttled across the stumps to swing Albie over deep backward square leg and Afridi absolutely hammered a flat six over long-on to take Pakistan to 102 for 4 after 14, with the finisher Abdul Razzaq still to come.
Three fours were taken off a Dale Steyn over and Umar was flamboyantly celebrating his half-century after blasting Langeveldt for a straight six on the first delivery of the 17th.
Things unraveled swiftly from there, with Umar holing out to long-on and Afridi being bowled by a full delivery from Langeveldt three balls later. There were no more boundaries and Pakistan finished with a whimper, only 16 coming off the final three.
However, Pakistan lived up to their billing of being most dangerous when cornered by stubbornly defending the small total to retain an outside chance of progressing to the semi-finals.
Courtesy of Cricinfo
Proteas’ Problematic T20 Formula
Graeme Smith has failed to spark so far during the ICC World Twenty20.
In an article published yesterday on the Cricinfo website, the outspoken but always insightful Ian Chappell (or Chappelli, to his co-commentators) analysed the elements that make up a winning Twenty20 team. His points shed some light on why the Proteas have failed to fire consistently at the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.
Point 1 – You need a successful opener
Chappell uses Sachin Tendulkar as his example here, citing the Little Master’s form with the Mumbai Indians as the perfect template for a T20 opener. Sachin manages to keep dot balls down to a minimum, and scores more than half his runs through boundaries.
So far in the ICC World Twenty20, the Proteas have no-one who fulfills that role. Loots Bosman opened the batting in the first two games, but failed to produce the quick runs required. Graeme Smith, back from an injury layoff, has looked rusty, so it should be Jacques Kallis who performs the ‘successful opener’ role. With the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, Kallis was just that guy. So far at the World Cup, however, he hasn’t been that guy, with a strike-rate of just over 118, and a disappointing average at 37.
Point 2 – You need a late-order big-hitter
Surprisingly Chappell cites SA’s Albie Morkel as the ideal example of a late-order hitter. According to Chappell: “Morkel, by hitting so straight, reduces the margin for error much the same as his fellow countryman Lance Klusener did in a golden patch during the 1999 World Cup. Incidentally Morkel scored 40% of his runs from sixes in the IPL, so his formula is surprisingly consistent.”
Point 3 – You need wicket-taking quicks
For Chappell, the ideal bowling pairing, in the current conditions at the Kensington Oval, is the SA-Aus duo of Dale Steyn and Dirk Nannes: “Not only are they right and left-arm bowlers, both take wickets regularly, produce a lot of dot balls, and are difficult to hit for six.”
Unfortunately for the Proteas, Steyn hasn’t quite lived up to that billing at the World Cup – he’s taken only four wickets in the four matches he’s played (compared to Morne Morkel’s eight and Charl Langeveldt’s seven), and at an run-rate of 7.00.
So, South Africa do have the right type of quicks, but they’re just not all firing at the right time.
Point 4 – You need an attacking, economical spinner
Dot balls are key here, says Chappell, with the most successful T20 spinners bowling about 50% of them per bowling spell. His examples of the best are New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori, India’s Harbhajan Singh and Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan.
South Africa have certainly under-utilised spin so far in the tournament – between Johan Botha, Roelof van der Merwe and JP Duminy, there have only been 13 overs of spin out of the total 76 overs that the Proteas have been in the field (up until the Proteas Super 8 game against Pakistan). It’s a worryingly small amount for a cricket format that has brought to the fore the value of good spinners.
So, while we can tick the box that says ‘late-order big-hitter’ and give ourselves a half-point for wicket-taking quicks, it’s SA’s lack of opening quality and spinning prowess that sees the Proteas struggling to stay the pace with T20’s front-running teams, like Australia and England.
All stats as of Sunday 9 May.
To read Ian Chappell’s full feature, click here
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