Amla leads SA into new era
COMMON sense among sport suits can be a rare commodity, but the Cricket SA (CSA) board got it right yesterday by confirming Hashim Amla as the national team's test captain.
CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat said Amla was the "unanimous recommendation of the selectors", and that "the board did not take much convincing" to seal the deal.
Not that the board could go far wrong with candidates of the calibre of Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis to choose from. Each of them would have brought different qualities to the job, but all of them are high-calibre people and superb players.
Happily, all three remain central to a side that will spend next season trying to find a way to perform to the levels they reached when Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis still loomed large in their dressingroom.
Amla's tenure started unsteadily when he could not locate the relevant microphone from the thicket ranged in front of him at a press conference in Johannesburg.
But nothing could go wrong yesterday, and even this had its silver lining – a man who avoids giving much of himself away and who delivers something disturbingly close to perfection on the field was rendered endearingly human.
His technical glitch quickly sorted, Amla began by acknowledging the honour and privilege of the responsibility bestowed on him.
"For years I've concentrated on my batting, but now it's time to contribute in the team setting," he said.
How would that commitment affect his primary role as the fulcrum around which SA's batting order turned?
"My intention is to score as many if not more runs," Amla said. "But I don't know."
He did know he had big boots to fill, boots that for the best part of 11 years belonged to Smith – who produced 53 victories and slipped to just 28 losses in his 117 tests at SA's helm. "I have to pay tribute to Graeme and his leadership," Amla said.
"When he decided to retire it was a surprise to us. But a lot of us – AB, JP [Duminy], Dale [Steyn], Morne [Morkel] – have played together for many years. It's always a collective effort. No single guy can take all the credit for the team's achievements."
Having last led a first-class team – the Dolphins – in 2004-05, he said it was difficult for him to comment on what style of captaincy he would have. That meant those whom Amla felt had something to teach him would hear from him soon.
"I'll be picking people's brains. In a leadership position you're more a servant than a leader. I'll be giving my heart to this position."
Despite that, he would remain his own man: "You don't try to copy anybody. I don't have any role model. I'm going to try and bring what Hashim Amla can bring."
But he was mindful that not much needed to change about a side that was ranked the best in the game for 21 of the past 22 months. "It took a while to find a winning combination and we can find another winning combination. Hopefully it won't take that long."
SA are now No2, and their bid to regain the top spot starts with two tests in Sri Lanka next month. "It's a tough assignment, but that's what you want," Amla said.
The new captain can look forward to more toughness from coach Russell Domingo.
"We have a lot of disagreements," Domingo said. "What's most important is that we have respect for each other."
The squads for Sri Lanka are:
Test: Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Dale Steyn, Stiaan van Zyl
ODI: AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Beuran Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn - Telford Vice
