Johannesburg - No-one in South African cricket would have anticipated the January that 2017 has brought. Incredibly, the actual cricket has almost become a footnote in a fortnight of player force, which the establishment has sat back on.
All of South Africa looked on in dismay when Rilee Rossouw and Kyle Abbott turned their backs on South African cricket. We thought they had been underhanded in their dealings, withholding their future plans until the cat was let out of the bag by a third party. But, Abraham Benjamin de Villiers has gone one better than them, by simply shouldering arms to the commitment balls that he doesn’t feel like facing. At least Abbott and Rossouw left no-one in doubt about where they stand over the next four years.
They were belatedly forthright, but at least they eventually fronted up and confirmed their change of priorities. De Villiers, meanwhile, has casually plucked from the fixture buffet, but no one can say for certain that he will carry out those commitments, as vague as they already are.
How South Africa’s most celebrated batsmen knows that he will be unfit at certain times of the year, but fine around IPL time, is quite staggering. Sangomas around the country will be having a look at their brittle bones, because clearly De Villiers can see the future in 20/20 vision, as compared to their mystical musings.
But, far more ominous than the preferential Proteas’ priorities of the former South African Test captain, Cricket SA’s floaty stance on the matter is even more worrying. In these times of player power and dollars for dashers and bashers, there still must be a sense of order from the mother ship.
Understandably, De Villiers has personal circumstances to attend to around late July. It is the modern way for players to miss games for reasons that personal, and no one would have blinked an eyelid if he had played half a series and then headed home.
But the bed that Cricket South Africa is getting into with AB de Villiers is fraught with danger. It is a complete disregard for the ethos of a team in seemingly constant transition, and the full consequences of this indulgence will be felt down the line.
How they intend telling players who do the hard yards, and play in the unglamorous series around the world, that they must suddenly sit out when De Villiers feels the international itch will be very interesting.
For those who didn’t know, De Villiers has illustrated that he doesn’t need the pittance he gets from his primary employers. He hasn’t needed it for years, to be fair, ever since the IPL came into being. But his lucrative endorsement deals need his international standing to get full value, even if that commitment is only on paper, and not in his heart.
Cricket SA must surely know that, yet they are opening themselves up for some interesting times down the road. When De Villiers is happily retired, with or without the World Cup that seems to be the only thing he is missing from his South African CV, this blind eye may come back to haunt them. What will they say when, heaven forbid, a Kagiso Rabada or a Quinny de Kock also requests the same sort of cushy deal, and seek to pick what parts of the international cricket menu they crave?
No single player is supposed to be bigger than the team, or the game, but Cricket South Africa’s response to AB de Villiers’ whims is painting a very different picture. And it may be one they don’t like the look of in a few years.