AB de Villiers makes himself available for selection in all 3 formats

[Abdullah719]

Media Release on behalf of AB de Villiers

Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Good afternoon
A lot has been said and written over the past 12 months, and I feel it is time to make my position absolutely clear.

Over the past year or so, I have tried to manage many commitments. I have felt mentally and physically tired; my wife and I are bringing up two fantastic kids and playing in all three formats ever since 2004 has taken its toll.

Together with Cricket South Africa, we have tried to develop a viable schedule which allows me to prolong my career for as long as possible.

This strategy has prompted some people to say I am picking and choosing when to play for the Proteas, and even to suggest I am somehow putting myself before the team. That is simply not true. That has never been true. Playing for South Africa is, and will always be, the greatest privilege of my life.

Now to move forward.

Faf du Plessis has proved to be an outstanding captain of the T20 and Test teams, and bearing this in mind, I have informed Cricket South Africa that I would like to step down as captain of the ODI team. It has been an honour to lead the team for the past six years, but it is now time for someone else to take the ODI side forward. Whoever is chosen as the new ODI captain will have my complete support.

Following this recent break, I really do feel refreshed and revived. I want to get back on the field and I have today assured the national selectors that I will be available for selection in all three formats of the game during the coming season. There is plenty of hard work ahead in the nets and I must prepare properly, but I will be ready to play, if required, from the middle of October onwards.

Lastly, if I am lucky enough to be selected, I can't guarantee runs and catches. Nobody can do that. But what I can absolutely guarantee is 100% commitment to the Proteas in every format of the game, as and when required. That was my promise when I made my debut in 2004; and that is my promise today.

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Looking forward to a great summer <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ProteaFire?src=hash">#ProteaFire</a> <a href="https://t.co/yojybIrvjZ">pic.twitter.com/yojybIrvjZ</a></p>— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABdeVilliers17/status/900359114567680000">August 23, 2017</a></blockquote>
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[ZyzzBrah]

Missed the hard tours, now for some minnow bashing

 

[Protea Fan]

Missed the hard tours, now for some minnow bashing

He missed aus tour because of injury only eng tour was hard and his gesture to stay away from that was unpardonable

Bw india is coming at the end of the year in SA and they are not minnows in my knowledge

 

[Protea Fan]

AB available for all three formats is more important news than AB steps down from captaincy

Faf can be a better captain and AB still can be the best player in longer formats which is SA needed the most at the moment

 

[Rana]

He missed aus tour because of injury only eng tour was hard and his gesture to stay away from that was unpardonable

Bw india is coming at the end of the year in SA and they are not minnows in my knowledge

India, probably the only country he can hack after SA

 

[shaz619]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Looking forward to a great summer <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ProteaFire?src=hash">#ProteaFire</a> <a href="https://t.co/yojybIrvjZ">pic.twitter.com/yojybIrvjZ</a></p>— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABdeVilliers17/status/900359114567680000">August 23, 2017</a></blockquote>
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[MENTION=47617]Red Devil[/MENTION] [MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION] Best baby face promo of the year

 

[Slog]

Well done AB

Hope this is a long term decision and not just for India series

 

[shaz619]

Glad that ABDV has clarified his position, the fans, media and ex players can be overly harsh in their criticisms and judgements. At the end of the day he's only human, he has accomplished great wonders for SA and while he should have made his intentions more clear (probably did to CSA, privacy is important the world doesn't need to know his every move) his grievance with regards to burn out and family are understandable.

It's also naive to expect him to play every series, he has endured a heavy work load across all formats since 2004; it wouldn't be productive for him for play every game moving forward given the wear and tear on his body in addition to his age, the ultimate goal is to keep him healthy for the 2019 WC in England and with him back in the team it's a big boost for SA. Hopefully Steyn gets back to firing on all cylinders as well.

 

[Chrish]

Whatever done is done.. if he can play couple of good years of test cricket then it would be invaluable for team SA and in a meantime they can blood a young batsmen

 

[Cricfan4eva]

He missed aus tour because of injury only eng tour was hard and his gesture to stay away from that was unpardonable

Bw india is coming at the end of the year in SA and they are not minnows in my knowledge

He was off-colour in IPL too.

Maybe he was fatigued and his statement that he's revived after the break also shows that too much cricket is taking toll on players injury wise and non-injury wise as well.

AB is a kind of player that should be able to be afford to pick and choose series, surely England wasn't the right one to skip but no one but he's in a position to make that call. And one can't seriously judge him for choosing to play IPL where there's so much money on offer.

 

[Ozymandiasza]

Welcome news. I hope his critics praise him as hard as they insulted him.

Proved them all wrong in the end.

 

[Syed1]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Looking forward to a great summer <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ProteaFire?src=hash">#ProteaFire</a> <a href="https://t.co/yojybIrvjZ">pic.twitter.com/yojybIrvjZ</a></p>— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABdeVilliers17/status/900359114567680000">August 23, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Yeh bhi tou cricketer... so eloquent and well spoken... Aek humaray hain angoor khatay howay langoor jo media mein ajatay hain kehnay "woh galliyaan deh raha hai"

 

[James]

Let's see how long this lasts.

 

[shaz619]

Welcome news. I hope his critics praise him as hard as they insulted him.

Proved them all wrong in the end.

I expect Gibs to be the first one

 

[Gabbar Singh]

ABDV has played over 400 senior international matches. He didn't handle the situation as well as he should have but it's no wonder he was feeling tired and burnt out. Hopefully we'll see the ABDV of old back now in tests and LOIs.

 

[Hasan123]

The right decision. Will strengthen South Africa's batting in tests.

 

[Mobashir]

That's a great news for South Africa and fans. Lets see how he does over the next two years.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Welcome back to currently "The most loved cricketer' in the world.

 

[Leo23]

what a shut up call to all the armchair critics!

 

[shaz619]

ABDV has played over 400 senior international matches. He didn't handle the situation as well as he should have but it's no wonder he was feeling tired and burnt out. Hopefully we'll see the ABDV of old back now in tests and LOIs.

Burnout and being away from his young family as well, arm chair experts can be inhumane

 

[Lefthanded]

Time to look forward appreciably. No point in being wistful about what could've been in England.

Sadly, his place in the test XI, is now hard to imagine. Elgar to open, second opener uncertain, Amla at 3, QDK at 4, Faf at 5, Bavuma at 6, all rounder at 7. Unless ABD or Amla open, not sure who can miss out. If Amla opens, who will bat at 3? Has ABD ever batted at 2 or 3?

 

[Ozymandiasza]

Time to look forward appreciably. No point in being wistful about what could've been in England.

Sadly, his place in the test XI, is now hard to imagine. Elgar to open, second opener uncertain, Amla at 3, QDK at 4, Faf at 5, Bavuma at 6, all rounder at 7. Unless ABD or Amla open, not sure who can miss out. If Amla opens, who will bat at 3? Has ABD ever batted at 2 or 3?

AB is a freak of nature. He's done it all.

http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Players/PlayerPositions.asp?PlayerID=3241

 

[Gabbar Singh]

Time to look forward appreciably. No point in being wistful about what could've been in England.

Sadly, his place in the test XI, is now hard to imagine. Elgar to open, second opener uncertain, Amla at 3, QDK at 4, Faf at 5, Bavuma at 6, all rounder at 7. Unless ABD or Amla open, not sure who can miss out. If Amla opens, who will bat at 3? Has ABD ever batted at 2 or 3?

Surely he has to replace Bavuma. And then QDK can move down to 6. I know that means the side will have one less black player but the quota rules aren't set in stone. They can easily make up for things by playing an extra black player in an ODI/T20.

 

[Lefthanded]

AB is a freak of nature. He's done it all.

http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Players/PlayerPositions.asp?PlayerID=3241

Thanks for this. Let's see if they want to play him in the top 3. Presuming he comes back to Tests.

 

[UN talkz]

Surely he has to replace Bavuma. And then QDK can move down to 6. I know that means the side will have one less black player but the quota rules aren't set in stone. They can easily make up for things by playing an extra black player in an ODI/T20.

Lol... Bavuma. He was their best batsman last series against Eng.

 

[Lefthanded]

Surely he has to replace Bavuma. And then QDK can move down to 6. I know that means the side will have one less black player but the quota rules aren't set in stone. They can easily make up for things by playing an extra black player in an ODI/T20.

It seems that they're committed to sticking with Bavuma as the future. After 24 Tests and averaging 31 with a single hundred seems not to matter. They stuck with Duminy for about ten years of being mediocre to poor.

Part of why Bavuma will be around is that he's a black African player and not just a player of colour. Not many black africans in SA's setup.

There's also just not enough T20s a year for the difference to be made up. Even now, they're expecting to play 6 non-white players and two of those must be Black African.

It seems absolutely insane that one of the best players of his generation, who hasn't lost his ability, may not be able to make it in the team. The only hope is that Bavuma gets injured for a year.

 

[KhalidRafi]

Time to look forward appreciably. No point in being wistful about what could've been in England.

Sadly, his place in the test XI, is now hard to imagine. Elgar to open, second opener uncertain, Amla at 3, QDK at 4, Faf at 5, Bavuma at 6, all rounder at 7. Unless ABD or Amla open, not sure who can miss out. If Amla opens, who will bat at 3? Has ABD ever batted at 2 or 3?

It'll be like it used to before AB left the side. de Kock will go back to 7, Bavuma at 6 and Aiden Markum will likely make his test debut very soon as Dean Elgar's opening partner.

Promoting de Kock up the order was a short-term experiment by du Plessis because South Africa were desperately lacking proper batsmen in England so he promoted him because de Kock can get quick runs. I expect him to revert back to No. 7 because he's played his best innings when he's batting with the lower order and quick runs are required before the team loses all 10 wickets. de kock generally thrives in those situations.

 

[KhalidRafi]

Glad he has finally come to his senses. This is very good news for South Africa now du Plessis can captain the ODI side like he was always supposed to and South Africa will no longer be a batsman short in their middle-order.

Also hope de Kock is announced as the vice-captain because it's high time they started grooming him for the future

 

[Ab Fan]

Good news.. Never easy to play all three forms of the game together particularly in 30s but still shouldn't have missed England tests. But that part is over. So he should continue to play for a little long for SA now.

 

[The_Odd_One]

I hope some of the immature posters who came up with all sort of non-sense against him are silenced for good.

 

[Last Monetarist]

As one of the more vehement detractors of the guy, I'm happy he has made the correct decision eventually. Won't change the fact he fiddled over it for more than 6 months. Naive to think he didn't take the criticism (not from irrelevant keyboard warriors, but from guys like Wessels and Prince) into account when making this decision.

 

[Lefthanded]

Glad he has finally come to his senses. This is very good news for South Africa now du Plessis can captain the ODI side like he was always supposed to and South Africa will no longer be a batsman short in their middle-order.

Also hope de Kock is announced as the vice-captain because it's high time they started grooming him for the future

You're right. They won't be short a batsman, but a three seamer and spinner attack will make the bowling a bit lightweight.

I hope you're right. I'd rather watch a SA with AB than one without him but a bowling all-rounder at 7.

 

[KhalidRafi]

You're right. They won't be short a batsman, but a three seamer and spinner attack will make the bowling a bit lightweight.

I hope you're right. I'd rather watch a SA with AB than one without him but a bowling all-rounder at 7.

Not if those seamers are Morkel, Rabada and Steyn or Philander. Philander is basically an all-rounder. He can bat fairly well. The only draw-back is the fitness of Steyn and Philander and Duanne Olivier not posing the same threat with the ball as the other four. And if that is the case South Africa can play Morris or Phehlekwayo as the seamer/all-rounder.

 

[Lefthanded]

Not if those seamers are Morkel, Rabada and Steyn or Philander. Philander is basically an all-rounder. He can bat fairly well. The only draw-back is the fitness of Steyn and Philander and Duanne Olivier not posing the same threat with the ball as the other four. And if that is the case South Africa can play Morris or Phehlekwayo as the seamer/all-rounder.

Yeah, totally agree with your post. Only difference is that I'm not quite optimistic. There's a lot of question marks over the seamers except Rabada.

Philander was easily the most impactful player of the series when he was actually on the field. I admire his determination to play through sickness, but it's hard to imagine him training to be athlete. Guy looks like he has a paunch, and isn't getting any younger. He reminds me of Asif, but not quite as brilliant.

Steyn is unlikely to be the force he was at his age and a long layoff.

And I hope to God that Morkel doesn't leave for a Kolpak deal.

I'd say more about a weak batting and ageing unit but I'm steering away from the topic.

 

[KhalidRafi]

Yeah, totally agree with your post. Only difference is that I'm not quite optimistic. There's a lot of question marks over the seamers except Rabada.

Philander was easily the most impactful player of the series when he was actually on the field. I admire his determination to play through sickness, but it's hard to imagine him training to be athlete. Guy looks like he has a paunch, and isn't getting any younger. He reminds me of Asif, but not quite as brilliant.

Steyn is unlikely to be the force he was at his age and a long layoff.

And I hope to God that Morkel doesn't leave for a Kolpak deal.

I'd say more about a weak batting and ageing unit but I'm steering away from the topic.

Yes age is a massive issue for their bowling unit. Steyn is 34, Philander is 32, Morkel is 32 aswell. Even the best fast-bowlers can't do anything special at these ages. But I'm still counting on this attack to get them through atleast a year but obviously it's time to start looking for replacements.

Batting-wise I'd say they're good for now. Even with Amla's declining form they can get two, maybe three years out of Faf and AB. But obviously time for them to bring some young batting blood in the team too. One obvious prospect is Aiden Markum as opener, who I'm pretty sure will debut and replace Kuhn in South Africa's next series.

I was sure Rilee Roussow was going to be the next big South African batting great. But then he went Kolpak.

 

[Pollack]

He wants to beat India before finally retiring from tests.

 

[Abdullah719]

Selectors face tricky headache when AB de Villiers returns for India series

Cricket South Africa (CSA) convener of selectors Linda Zondi has admitted that finding a suitable place for Quinton de Kock in the Test batting line-up when AB de Villiers returns for the India series in January is going to be a headache.

Zondi said the multi-talented De Kock‚ who doubles up as wicket-keeper‚ will stay in the middle order against Bangladesh but a rethink is needed against India for them to strike a balance in the side.

“There are so many things one can get from Quinny (De Kock) because he can open the batting‚" he said.

"But with that you have to look at the fact that he keeps as well.

"Another option with him is that he can bat in the middle where he has done well for us by coming on and changing the game.

"He can also bat higher up but I just need to spend a little bit more time with coach Ottis (Gibson) and discuss the different roles with all these players.

"When you have a new coach he will also have his own mindset of how he wants to use the players‚ but I am comfortable with the discussions that I have already had with him.

"You have AB (De Villiers) coming back in the picture in January‚ which is a nice headache to have‚ but against Bangladesh Quinny may bat at five or six.”

Elaborating further on what they are going to do when De Villiers returns to Test cricket next year‚ Zondo said a lot hinges on the kind system Gibson is going to use to find balance in the team.

“We are in a position where we will have to decide whether we want to go with seven batters or another system.

"Ottis and I had a long discussion around these options and they will depend on what we feel is the right solution for any given situation.”

Zondo said Gibson was happy after finally seeing highly-rated opener Aiden Markram in action.

Markram scored a century for the Titans against the Dolphins on the opening day of the Sunfoil Series on Tuesday.

“He is very impressed seeing the ‘laatie’ for the first time but I had already told him about him in our previous discussions.

"He is also aware of Heino Kuhn and Stephen Cook.

"So we will see when we finalise the squad.

"But at least he is speaking about someone he has seen and the good thing is that Markram played in the manner that he did by scoring a hundred against the Dolphins.”

https://www.timeslive.co.za/sport/c...when-ab-de-villiers-returns-for-india-series/

 

[The_Odd_One]

Keep De Kock at #7. Amla, AB, Faf, and Bavuma should make up the middle order.

 

[hadi123]

Keep De Kock at #7. Amla, AB, Faf, and Bavuma should make up the middle order.

QDK could open with Elgar as he opens in ODIs too. Heino Kuhn opened in the England series and he didn't do all that well. Kuhn doesn't have age on his side either. If QDK opens that may be more ideal for South Africa as when he bats lower down the order he may need to be more defensive as tail enders may be on the other end which could affect his natural game which is attacking. I guess that is up to SA management though as batting lower down the order can actually suit aggressive players more as they have a license to hit.

 

[Abdullah719]

Top-scorer from both sides on a difficult pitch in the first Test against India. Looks fully committed to playing for South Africa once again.

 

[hadi123]

Played good in this match but more importantly I loved his passion. You could see how pumped up he was on Day 4 whenever a wicket fell for India