In reflecting upon his side’s ‘horrible performance’ that saw them miss out on a place in the Caribbean tri-series final AB de Villiers made a spirited defence of the coaching staff and in particular Russell Domingo who has been under fire for most of the last 12 months.
Another disappointing showing coming off the back of the Test series losses in India and against England coupled with that disastrous World T20 campaign will also shine the spotlight back on Cricket South Africa and their decision to post-pone the indepen-dent review they had set up to examine the failings of the national team.
Once again, the need for an open, honest and robust interr-ogation of the South African team has been highlighted by a set of perform-ances that were erratic over the last month. And the failure to put together a proper display with the bat, when the pressure was at its highest in the series, will call into question the mental fortitude of the players.
Perhaps an independent review won’t be able to answer directly questions concerning mental collapses, but if it can get players, coaches and administrators to talk honestly about it, there’ll be a hope of resolving those issues.
De Villiers had a desperately poor series with the bat averaging 24.20 with a highest score of 39 in five innings. In the wake of the 100-run defeat to the West Indies, he sought to take most of the blame onto his own shoulders and that of his players for another failure and attempted to take the heat off Domingo.
“It’ s sad to see him under pressure,” said De Villiers.
“It’s definitely not the coaching staff. There is no doubt in my mind that they are the best in the world with what they do and what they bring to the table. As players we let them down in the series.
“This comes down to the players - there were a few opportunities, like that first game we should have walked it. It comes down to the players, it’s very sad to see Russell under pressure, it shouldn’t be that way. There should be a few players who are under pressure.”
Among the questions to be asked - by whom, we don’ t know given there is no longer an independent review taking place - is: Which players should be ditched? Are there others within the domestic system ready to step up to international level? And, for all of De Villiers' public and spirited support of Domingo, why does it look like whatever the coach is doing is not getting the best out of the players in the squad?
Six members of the squad, including De Villiers, will remain in the Caribbean ahead of the start of the region’ s T20 league on Wednesday.
South Africa’ s next international assignment are two Tests against New Zealand in August and the players will be under enormous scrutiny there especially with a big series against Australia in November on the horizon. - The Star