Having set England a mammoth 382 to win the final Test at Centurion, South Africa duly wrapped up victory in some style on the morning of the fifth day. The win, by a resounding 280 runs, put some respectability back into what has been a humbling series for the former number one side. But whilst some of the post-mortem will inevitably focus on England’s shortcomings – the dropped catches, the lacklustre bowling, the problems at the top of the order – post-match euphoria should do little to calm the fears about the immediate future of South African cricket. The worrying signs are that captaincy will not sit easily on AB de Villiers’ shoulders.
Victory will be no consolation to AB de Villiers’ captaincy
There are significant positives for South Africa to take from the match, of course. Kagiso Rabada was outstanding, his return of 13-144 claiming second spot on the all-time list of greatest South African Test performances in only his sixth match for his country. Hashim Amla, having scored only one century in the whole of 2015 but now with two in his last three Tests, seems to be the player of old again having been freed from the captaincy. In Stephen Cook South Africa look to have found a potential solution to their problem at the top of the order and in Temba Bavuma an attacking middle order batsman who can provide some stability and fight where there has recently been such fragility.
And, of course the game was won handsomely. But in his over-cautious approach at Centurion de Villiers not only risked letting England off the hook but missed a golden opportunity to set down his marker as captain for the future.
Despite all the pre-match talk from England about the importance of the Test, setting the right tone and so on, the fact remains that it was a dead rubber. England celebrated hard after their victory at Johannesburg secured the series, and with job done and adrenaline spent it is notoriously difficult for sportsmen to collectively rouse themselves for what has suddenly become a meaningless contest. It is guaranteed to drive fans to distraction but it happens to the very best of teams. England’s performance in the field on the first morning at Centurion summed up their lack of motivation. It was dreadful, and in allowing South Africa’s batsmen to get away England were, despite momentary efforts to rouse themselves, always behind in the game.
But South Africa missed a trick. There was an opportunity to send a signal that a team newly energised under a dynamic new captain was ready to take back their mantle as the leading side in the world. But instead of looking to ram home the advantage, to win with a bang, AB de Villiers was surprisingly coy in his approach.
In a feisty pre-match press conference he certainly talked a good game, calling into question England’s ability to bat under pressure and the pace of their bowling attack. But fiery words need to be backed up on the field, and what we saw instead on the fourth day was timidity.
Although there were doubts around the fitness of Kyle Abbott for the fourth innings England were going to have to bat last on a crack-covered pitch that had been two-paced and up-and-down since the second day. A chase of 250 was always going to be extremely challenging – no team has ever chased more than 251 at Centurion, and that was as a result of the infamous ‘leather jacket’ declaration by Hansie Cronje in 2000 – yet South Africa batted on and on until a hurried declaration finally came during the rain delay after the tea interval. The game had already been made safe by Amla and Bavuma, yet until the weather intervened there was no sign of a declaration coming. If South Africa had batted on, as seemed likely, who knows what might have happened on a fifth day in which thunderstorms were predicted to play a hand.
How might Brendon McCullum, alongside de Villiers one of the most explosive batsmen in world cricket, have approached a similar situation? Speculation, of course, but it would be unlikely that he would have missed the opportunity to show that spirit of adventure that has characterised his captaincy of New Zealand.
Momentum comes not only from results but from the manner in which they are achieved. South Africa have been under the cosh recently, in India and now against England in a series they were expected to win. A feel-good factor needs to be rediscovered. With the game already safe de Villiers had the opportunity to put England under pressure with a surprise declaration, to set up a push for victory on his own terms. He could show faith in his team and, crucially, send a signal not only to England but to the rest of world cricket that South Africa were back in business. Instead it showed that the recent wounds have cut very deep. Fear of repeating failure seemed to override the need for a decisive statement of intent.
There is exercising due caution and there is being risk-averse, and the signs in the early stages of his captaincy are that de Villiers falls into the latter category. The victory at Centurion was well deserved and decisive, but could easily have gone wrong. In the future de Villiers the Test captain will need to find a little of the adventurousness he shows so readily as a batsman. With New Zealand due to tour next South Africa cannot afford yet another chastening experience.
