21.3
Anderson to AB, booming in-ducker from Anderson, rapped on the pads... and up goes the finger!
De Villiers reviews, and Hawk-Eye has it demolishing leg stump! [size=11pt]
Another two-ball duck[/size] for de Villiers... "Was that quick enough for you?"
It took 132 matches, but AB finally has a pair in first-class cricket. That's three ducks in a row since taking over the role of captain. Clearly he needs to follow Amla and give up the captaincy. ;D
Another outstanding player has one again departed from international cricket. AB Devilliers has been was one of the Greatest all-time wicket keepers. His contribution to Sout African cricket is unparalleled.
He is also highly rated in the batting department in both batting and wicket keeping boasting exceptional averages in both areas. In test matches,
he has achieved one the better average of 50.46, in ODI he has gained an average of 54.1 probably the best in that version. He has also scored the fastest ODI century having faced 31 balls only.
Cricket has suffered a great lost, with the departure of such a talented player at the age of 31, who seems to be presently at the top of his game, a player who is arguably the top wicket-keeper batsman of all times.
I'm trying not to concentrate on his impending resignation, but instead on the fact that I was able to live to see someone who is likely the greatest batsman of all time ... It's like being able to see Babe Ruth live. I can only hope that he decides to stay on a few more years, and give us all a few more incredible games!
It looks like the captain's armband weighs heavily on the South African players these days, and if England had have managed to win this last match, or even batted it out for the draw I think AB might have actually been thinking about the position.
ABdV has ended recent speculation about his future by agreeing to take on the permanent role as South African Test captain.
Quote:"This is an exciting time for South African cricket, and I am honoured to have been asked to captain the Test team into a new era," he said. "I thoroughly enjoyed captaining in the last two Tests against England, and although I still have a lot to learn in this role, it's a new challenge that I'm excited to take on.
"I have been privileged to play in several outstanding Proteas teams over the past 11 seasons, and I believe we are witnessing the emergence of another great team. There is plenty of hard work ahead of us; we are rebuilding and have a long way to go to being a finished product as a squad."
After the recent loss to England, and his performance with the bat, I bet that South Africans are over the moon by that decision.
The loss they can handle, but surely there's some concern as to what effect the role will have on his overall performance because up to now, it's not exactly added to his game.
[quote author=pwarbi link=topic=102173.msg676060#msg676060 date=1454082903]
After the recent loss to England, and his performance with the bat, I bet that South Africans are over the moon by that decision.
The loss they can handle, but surely there's some concern as to what effect the role will have on his overall performance because up to now, it's not exactly added to his game.
[/quote]
A sample size of 4 innings is worthless and non-predictive. In 76 matches as the ODI captain, ABdV has a staggering average of 69. His average is also 4 runs higher per match when playing as a captain in the T20 side.
To put ABdV's performance as ODI captain into perspective, his average of 69.28 is the highest among all players that have captained their ODI side on at least 20 occasions. MS Dhoni is second on the list at 54.58. That is a stunning number.
![[Image: 232389.3.jpg]](http://www.espncricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/232300/232389.3.jpg)
