The Tsolekile-de Villiers Saga

MANY people didn’t expected Highveld Lions Wicket-keeper batsman, Thami Tsolekile to be dropped from the South African squad –including Tsolekile himself concurs his franchise coach, Geoffrey Toyana. “Thami was very disappointed to hear that he had not been selected for the New Zealand tour to South Africa -especially after he was promised to play. But you know Thami, he’s a fighter and I can assure you he shall keep pushing the boundaries.” said Toyana.

After being promised by Cricket South Africa (CSA) convenor of selector, Andrew Hudson, to take over the glove duties in the Test series against New Zealand, Tsolekile was astonished to have not found his name in the South African Test squad to play the Black Caps. Knights and Titans batsmen, Dean Elgar and Jacques Rudolph, were still kept in the Proteas Test squad despite them both failing in Australia when given a chance with the bat.

The two batsmen had scores of 43, 9 not out and 9, 77 respectively in their recent Sunfoil Series matches coming back from their tour of Australia. Elgar grafted 21 runs off 52 balls in South Africa’s first innings against New Zealand in the first Test match; then scored a beautiful century in the second and final Test match against the Black Caps at St Georgies Park, Port Elizabeth. Tsolekile scored an unbeaten 88 against the Warriors and 46 against the Knights in that similar time frame as Elgar and Rudolph.

CSA selectors simply don’t have confidence nor are they supportive with Tsolekile’s abilities with the bat despite him relentlessly producing the goods for the Lions outfit. This also forms speculation around Tsolekile’s sudden CSA contract when he had not yet played for the Proteas since 2005. When Neil McKenzie’s international career was resurrected in early 2008 thanks to good knocks playing for the Lions, he took his golden opportunity by scoring 226 runs and obtaining the highest partnership record for the first wicket of 415 runs, along fellow opening batsman Graeme Smith against Bangladesh. He then scored an unbeaten 155 against India in Chennai then followed it up by an important and very patient 138 runs off 447 balls at Lords against England in 2008. McKenzie had scored 1050 runs in the calendar year of 2008.

After a dismal series in Australia and constantly being exposed with the new ball by the Australian fast bowlers, McKenzie was dropped from the Test side –despite scoring a desperate 59 runs not out in Melbourne. McKenzie was never looked at again for Test cricket selection. Rudolph was blessed with the same opportunity similar to McKenzie when he was selected to play for the Proteas in the summer of 2011. Since then Rudolph has played in 13 Test matches and has only managed to score one century and three half-centuries against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England. Many could argue that McKenzie deserved more time, just as Rudolph, especially with the figures he had produced with the bat in just 2008.

Many wicket-keepers speak of the profession in a prestigious manner. They’re dedication to the art of wicket-keeping is unbelievable. All these wicket-keepers started their cricketing careers with the gloves from high school cricket then grow up with the skill into professional cricket. AB De Villiers’ journey into the keeping duties is simply a mockery towards the art of wicket-keeping. Picking and choosing which format of the game you want to take wicket and not take wicket is a spit on the face for those other wicket-keepers who work tirelessly on their keeping skills. You can’t compare De Villiers with New Zealand wicket-keeper, Brendon McCullum, because he initially is a wicket keeper. So if he feels that the gloves are affecting his batting in certain formats of the game, he can by all means drop the gloves and instead focus on his batting. He is a wicket-keeper batsman –not a part-time wicket-keeper batsman like De Villiers. If De Villiers is serious about wicket-keeping then he has to take the gloves for all formats of the game just as Mark Boucher had done.  

So what are the verdicts that come out of these statistics? Firstly is that it’s not a matter of coaches or the selection panel being racist as people are quick to assume, but a matter of inconsistency within the South African selection panel. It is evident to similar statistics to these that player selections for different players are biased. Secondly, it’s vividly evident that certain players in the national team just do as they please and the management team will in a posh manner accept any demands made by these players. According to Herschelle Gibbs’ book, To the Point, similar tales are highlighted in this article exist within the South African cricket camp.   

What’s now done certainly cannot be undone. CSA have already granted Tsolekile a CSA contract, despite the selectors not eager to use his wicket-keeper services for the national side. Arguments and debates won’t solve Tsolekile’s problem. Tsolekile has to be given a chance if he continues with his form in domestic four-day cricket. And when he’s given the opportunity, De Villiers has to play as a batsman. It’s that simple. It’s unquestionable that Tsolekile has the best wicket-keeper skills in South Africa at the moment. Statistics of recent seasons and performances prove it.

-Mandilulame Manjezi
@JizzyJakesTheIn
www.jizzyjakes.blogspot.com