Give the Proteas 2 or 3 years: Former SA captain, Ali Bacher
SANDHURST – Local cricket legend discusses the challenges facing Quinton de Kock as the new ODI captain and the state of SA cricket.
Cricket fans need to be patient with the Proteas as it could take them two or three years to become a world power in the game again.
This according to former SA Test captain Dr Ali Bacher, who also believes history is against Quinton de Kock succeeding as the team’s new one-day international captain.
Bacher was relaxed at a comfortable dining table at his Sandhurst home, knocking off one media interview after another after the launch of his third book with journalist David Williams, South Africa’s Greatest Bowlers: Past and Present.
Also read: Cricket book to bounce off the shelves
In a brief 20-minute discussion with Sandton Chronicle, Bacher barely stopped for breath as he spoke about the book, his work for the non-profit organisation Right to Care (of which he is non-executive chairperson) and the state of South African cricket.
“Look, we have problems,” Bacher began.
“After the world cup, I said we have lost AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn. Those are three great, great cricketers. They don’t come every day. So we are starting a new era. I see a lot of potential but it is early days. It is basically a very inexperienced side. It is going to need time. It is going to need rebuilding. It is going to take, in my opinion, a couple of years.”
But Bacher said we must not lose confidence in South Africa’s strong cricketing culture, although changes would also be needed at the top level of Cricket South Africa.
“We need people white or black, who know the game,” he said of the controlling body.
Of the new cricketers, Pieter Malan and Anrich Nortje stood out for Bacher as living proof that the country was still producing good cricketers.
Then as the conversation switched to the appointment of De Kock as ODI captain, Bacher expressed his doubts but also hopefulness to be proved wrong.
“In the history of the game, hardly any wicketkeepers/batsmen have been successful captains. There’s too much. I mean, you are wicket keeping, got to concentrate every ball, then you are a top batsman, now you got to be the captain.”
The only person to Bacher’s knowledge to have succeeded in this was India’s MS Dhoni.
“So history is against Quinton de Kock doing well. Let’s wait and see.”
Related articles:
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/243729/unhappy-cricket-lovers-to-meet-at-wanderers/
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/244022/cricket-south-africas-ceo-suspended/
