CAPE TOWN: With their next Test series in Sri Lanka in July, Cricket South Africa (CSA) say they are in no rush to find a replacement captain for Graeme Smith, who retired from the sport at the conclusion of the third Test against Australia on Wednesday.
Two candidates appear to have the strongest claims - AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis - both already captains of the national side in the shorter formats of the game.
CSA chief executive officer Haroon Lorgat says South Africa’s focus will first shift to this month’s Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh, which gives the selectors some breathing space before the need to appoint a test captain.
“The next Test series is in Sri Lanka in July. So there’s a bit of time and something the selectors will have to deal with. I don’t want to pre-empt anything at this stage,” Lorgat told reporters.
Lorgat was involved with the appointment of a 22-year-old Smith as captain in 2003 and says it will be up to the CSA board to approve the man put forward by the selectors.
De Villiers would seem the obvious choice, he is experienced, the vice-captain of the test side and has been the leader in one-day internationals since 2011.
However, the fact that he is busy enough with wicketkeeping duties is a minor cause for concern. Du Plessis is the Twenty20 captain and is held in high regard among the coaching staff for his leadership skills.
South Africa have only had four regular Test captains since readmission to international cricket in 1991 - Kepler Wessels, Hansie Cronje, Shaun Pollock and Smith.
I was out of line, says Clarke
CAPE TOWN: Australian captain Michael Clarke admitted he had been out of order after a heated exchange with South Africa’s Vernon Philander during the tense closing stages of the third and final Test at Newlands on Wednesday.
Clarke and Philander were seen exchanging words as the match went into the last 15 overs, with South Africa threatening to secure an unlikely draw.
Philander was given out caught behind when a vicious bouncer from Mitchell Johnson flicked his right glove on the way through to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin. Philander sought a review and third umpire Richard Illingworth overturned umpire Aleem Dar’s decision after lengthy analysis. Later Philander appeared to get into an argument with Australian players and Clarke rushed in.
“I was out of line,” he said. “There were two extremely passionate teams out there. Something was said to one of my team-mates and I went to his defence.” REUTERS
