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AB de Villiers has stood down as South Africa Test captain. Faf du Plessis has filled the void, much as he has been doing for quite a while now.
This decision makes sense to us for two reasons. Firstly, de Villiers hardly ever plays cricket for South Africa at the minute, while du Plessis does. Secondly, de Villiers is a bad captain, whereas du Plessis seems quite a good one.
They’ve emphasised the first reason in the announcement.
De Villiers always seemed to look upon captaincy much as a schoolboy does, for some reason equating hand-eye co-ordination with aptitude for strategic thinking and man management.
Whether he has actually been disabused of the notion that he should captain his country because he is the best batsman is unclear. Like many skilful cricketers, we suspect he’ll always believe that his physical ability will directly translate into more cerebral activities connected with the sport. A career as a commentator surely awaits.
De Villiers always said he wanted to be captain, but never really acted like it when the opportunity finally came. We always got the impression that he’d spent his life being told that he was destined to captain South Africa and never actually stopped to think whether it was his kind of thing.
Why didn’t you put that bit in the article?
Just thought it would dilute the piece. Our internal threshold for what’s worth including bobs about from day to day and this was on the cusp. A comment seemed like a compromise. Further reading, if you will.
This is not related to ABD but still I would be grateful to have your opinion on this.
What are your thoughts on England’s tour of India so far?
Has it been a success or not?
Clearly ‘not’ is the obvious answer, they’re 3-0 down with one to play, and the margins of victory have been very one sided. The English media vultures are circling around Captain Cook, the team are a disgrace and we’re a step away from a full blown cricket crisis.
I disagree.
We’ve lost. That’s the main thing. Always has been, always will be. Under any circumstances England play to win. It’s what I expect from every serious sporting nation.
The frustration for me is I think England have performed well. We’ve had some good test cricket to watch & England have played their part in that.
England have coped with Ashwin very well, he’s obviously taken wickets as you’d expect with 80 overs of spin a day but he hasn’t hurt England they way he was expected.
Rashid has been the spinner England were looking for. He’s not a Shane Warne, not close, but he’s bowled well & troubled India, as have our fast bowlers.
Most games have been in the balance through good cricket from both sides come day 3 & India have crushed England brutally at that point in the game, marshalled by Virat’s bat who has been beyond superb.
Otherwise, I think England are in a good place. Cook, Root, Bairstow have played well. Stokes has further enhanced his superstar status. Rashid has emerged as a decent, if not brilliant test spinner. Jury is out on Jennings, but Hameed is a find.
England overall look good.
We’ve been expressing our thoughts about England’s tour daily. Where have you been? How many thoughts do you think we have in a given day?
The answer is nine.
Nice to see you rebalancing the letter-C dearth on this occasion, Marck. ABDV could learn something from you.
Yes I like reading your articles and I have read all nine.But don’t you think despite 0-4 we have built a strong team for the next Ashes?
Yeah, we’d probably argue that the team is stronger than it was at the start of the winter. There’s been the emergence of Jennings and Hameed and the performance of Rashid. Pretty much everything else has been as expected really.
You’re pretty sure England will lose the fifth Test though, aren’t you? It’s 3-0 to India at the minute.
I don’t think you regularly have nine thoughts per day KC.
I have detected 10 or perhaps even 11 thoughts on occasions.
Sometimes (rarely) fewer than nine.
I’m not sure you should be aiming for numerical consistency, though. What are your thoughts on numerical consistency?
Ask us tomorrow. We’ve exceeded our quota for today.
Good morning, KC.
What are your thoughts on numerical consistency?
We’re against it.
Kinda figured.
Without my reading glasses on there’s something about the title of this post that compels me to think it’s about Vitamin C