Agency :
Usually, it’s in the latter stages of a global tournament that South Africa are subjected to C-word jibes. At the 2015 World Cup, it’s taken just two matches – an unconvincing win against Zimbabwe, followed by a 130-run thrashing at the hands of India. “They’ve got their choke in early,” said Mark Waugh in the Fox Sports studio, while Allan Border, on the same show, spoke of how too many coaches might be preventing the team from playing a more ‘natural game’.
AB de Villiers, the man now tasked with fielding the awkward questions that Graeme Smith had to face for a decade, wasn’t about to take such criticism lightly though. “It’s very easy to say a lot of things about our team after our previous performance,” he said. “But we only have one extra consultant in Michael Hussey. Gary [Kirsten] has been around the team a long time.
“All the other guys have been around the side. We don’t have the psychologist that we normally have in the World Cups. I really believe the team is in a good space. We have the right amount of management here. Every single person knows his role. We didn’t do those roles well in the last game, and we need to do better tomorrow.”
That is not strictly true. Kirsten is on a 50-days-a-year contract, meaning that he spends far more time away than he does with the group. Charl Langevedlt, the death-overs bowling coach, has been with the team only since January. The 4-1 reverse in Australia late last year certainly seems to have acted as a trigger for some last-minute fixes.
Advice has come from other quarters as well, with the great Martin Crowe penning a letter to de Villiers on a prominent cricket website. Crowe masterminded a brilliant New Zealand campaign in 1992, and de Villiers called his views ‘interesting’. “Some valuable points made there, and some not that valuable,” he said. “But I think it comes from a good place, and that makes me want to read it and take the good points from that.”
After South Africa’s tardy over-rate against India, de Villiers goes into this game knowing that another time-related offence will mean missing a game. “I think all the captains are under pressure in this tournament,” he said. “They’re a little bit more lenient with normal cricket series around the world, which is understandable. This tournament is under the spotlight, and it heats you up the right way.
“We’ve had a good discussion about it. The seamers need time. They need time to get to their marks and get the fields right. And with those longer run-ups, they get tired. So it’s understandable for a seamer to waste a bit more time, but the fielders have got to get the intensity up. We’ve spoken about it at length, and I believe the boys will react.”
Defeat to India, the defending champions, changed nothing as far as he was concerned. “Nothing has changed in our approach, except our confidence might have taken a bit of a slip in the last game, which is maybe not a bad thing,” said de Villiers. “It’s maybe a good thing for us to make sure we keep our feet on the ground, keep working hard.”
With the format so generous, the chances of South Africa missing out on the knockout stages are miniscule, but de Villiers said that the Pakistan template – Imran Khan’s team won only one of their first five matches in 1992 before turning it on in the final stages – was not one that he wanted his team to follow. “We are not sure of the place in the quarterfinals,” he said. “We would not like to be that team that stumbles before we get there. No matter how we get there, I just want us to get there and then we’ll play some high-pressure, make-or-break kind of cricket.”
Their last defeat to West Indies in a match that had anything at stake was in the semifinal of the Champions Trophy in 2006. That evening in Jaipur, Chris Gayle tonked 133 off 135 balls as West Indies made mincemeat of a 249-run target.
Usually, it’s in the latter stages of a global tournament that South Africa are subjected to C-word jibes. At the 2015 World Cup, it’s taken just two matches – an unconvincing win against Zimbabwe, followed by a 130-run thrashing at the hands of India. “They’ve got their choke in early,” said Mark Waugh in the Fox Sports studio, while Allan Border, on the same show, spoke of how too many coaches might be preventing the team from playing a more ‘natural game’.
AB de Villiers, the man now tasked with fielding the awkward questions that Graeme Smith had to face for a decade, wasn’t about to take such criticism lightly though. “It’s very easy to say a lot of things about our team after our previous performance,” he said. “But we only have one extra consultant in Michael Hussey. Gary [Kirsten] has been around the team a long time.
“All the other guys have been around the side. We don’t have the psychologist that we normally have in the World Cups. I really believe the team is in a good space. We have the right amount of management here. Every single person knows his role. We didn’t do those roles well in the last game, and we need to do better tomorrow.”
That is not strictly true. Kirsten is on a 50-days-a-year contract, meaning that he spends far more time away than he does with the group. Charl Langevedlt, the death-overs bowling coach, has been with the team only since January. The 4-1 reverse in Australia late last year certainly seems to have acted as a trigger for some last-minute fixes.
Advice has come from other quarters as well, with the great Martin Crowe penning a letter to de Villiers on a prominent cricket website. Crowe masterminded a brilliant New Zealand campaign in 1992, and de Villiers called his views ‘interesting’. “Some valuable points made there, and some not that valuable,” he said. “But I think it comes from a good place, and that makes me want to read it and take the good points from that.”
After South Africa’s tardy over-rate against India, de Villiers goes into this game knowing that another time-related offence will mean missing a game. “I think all the captains are under pressure in this tournament,” he said. “They’re a little bit more lenient with normal cricket series around the world, which is understandable. This tournament is under the spotlight, and it heats you up the right way.
“We’ve had a good discussion about it. The seamers need time. They need time to get to their marks and get the fields right. And with those longer run-ups, they get tired. So it’s understandable for a seamer to waste a bit more time, but the fielders have got to get the intensity up. We’ve spoken about it at length, and I believe the boys will react.”
Defeat to India, the defending champions, changed nothing as far as he was concerned. “Nothing has changed in our approach, except our confidence might have taken a bit of a slip in the last game, which is maybe not a bad thing,” said de Villiers. “It’s maybe a good thing for us to make sure we keep our feet on the ground, keep working hard.”
With the format so generous, the chances of South Africa missing out on the knockout stages are miniscule, but de Villiers said that the Pakistan template – Imran Khan’s team won only one of their first five matches in 1992 before turning it on in the final stages – was not one that he wanted his team to follow. “We are not sure of the place in the quarterfinals,” he said. “We would not like to be that team that stumbles before we get there. No matter how we get there, I just want us to get there and then we’ll play some high-pressure, make-or-break kind of cricket.”
Their last defeat to West Indies in a match that had anything at stake was in the semifinal of the Champions Trophy in 2006. That evening in Jaipur, Chris Gayle tonked 133 off 135 balls as West Indies made mincemeat of a 249-run target.
