Hashim Amla said on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) he was stepping aside as South Africa's Test captain with immediate effect, a day after a double century rescued his country from possible defeat in the second Test against England.
The 32-year-old made the surprise announcement just minutes after the Test at Newlands ended in draw and after Amla had led a fightback to haul his team from a precarious position.
AB de Villiers will take over as captain for the last two Tests against England.
"Naturally this decision is not an easy one but the more I think about it the more I believe I can be of greater value to the Proteas as a fully focused batsman and senior player at this time or rebuilding our team," Amla told reporters.
"I will continue to give my all to the team."
Amla said he had been considering quitting over the last fortnight, even before the start of the series against England and the loss of the first Test by 241 runs in Durban last week.
"It's a bit of relief," he said.
Amla captained South Africa for 14 Tests with four wins, six draws and four defeats. South Africa, despite being the top-ranked Test nation, have not won in their last eight Tests stretching back to more than a year and Amla's form has suffered.
He scored 251 Test runs in 2015 but seemed to have got right the balance of making runs and captaining the team with a double century on Tuesday as his stoic performance rescued his side from the possibility of going 2-0 down in the series.
"We respect Hashim's decision and the manner in which he thought about it and then communicated with me. He still has a huge role to play in shaping the success of our team without the need for a leadership title.
"He is just that type of a person and we are very fortunate to have him in our stable," Cricket South Africa chief executive officer Haroon Lorgat said.
South Africa lost the first Test against England last week by 241 runs and play the next two in Johannesburg and Pretoria. The third Test at the Wanderers starts on January 14.
"It's a bit of a shock. I haven't got anything to say," England captain Alastair Cook said reacting to the news.
Nice post, Gob - Philistines notwithstanding. Amla has done so much for SA cricket; how welcome that some kind of giant sports ego doesn't get in the way of working for the team
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 3:05 am
by Gob
A lesson I feared would be lost on Jim
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 3:24 pm
by MajGenl.Meade
Baseball has been thrilling the United States for many years
(note the photobomb!)
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 3:39 pm
by Lord Jim
More thrilling in some places than in others...
And what exactly is it that this poster boy for the No-Fly List is supposed to have "sacrificed" anyway? Is there extra pay involved in being the team captain? If not, it looks to me like all he's done is get rid of whatever additional responsibilities that came with the title, and reduce the level to which he can be blamed when the team loses...
Reducing one's workload and blame level isn't exactly an act of "selflessness"...
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 4:01 pm
by Big RR
Jim--if I'm not wrong, I think a captain in cricket is like a coach or onfield manager as well as a player, and comes with a great deal of prestige (well as much as you can get from playing cricket). My guess is that it would be like an aging star baseball player agreeing to step down from playing every day (or giving up a position in the batting order) or possible as a head football (American football, for Meade) coach agreement to become the defensive coordinator and remain with the team. I guess he could have insisted on remaining as the captain, but decided to voluntarily step aside and let someone else lead. From the article, I'd gather this doesn't happen very often, and I'd venture to guess he did it for the "best of the team" and not to reduce his workload.
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 6:17 pm
by Guinevere
Lord Jim wrote:More thrilling in some places than in others...
And what exactly is it that this poster boy for the No-Fly List is supposed to have "sacrificed" anyway? Is there extra pay involved in being the team captain? If not, it looks to me like all he's done is get rid of whatever additional responsibilities that came with the title, and reduce the level to which he can be blamed when the team loses...
Reducing one's workload and blame level isn't exactly an act of "selflessness"...
"Poster boy for the No-Fly List?" How Trumpian of you.
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 7:03 pm
by Lord Jim
How Trumpian of you.
As the one challenged, you have choice of weapon...
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 7:08 pm
by TPFKA@W
Spock exemplified it better.
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 7:45 pm
by Bicycle Bill
Guinevere —
He's right — as challenged party, you have the choice of weapons. May I suggest that you select balloons — and blunderbusses? (and before you ask — yes, there is a precedent!)
Not to mention, no matter what happens, someone might write a song about it and you both will become mildly famous.....
-"BB"-
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 8:33 pm
by wesw
we seem to have a new word in our lexicon...
"trumpian"
the trumpian candidate has been thoroughly borked
BB. REALLY?
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 8:35 pm
by RayThom
That story is just full of hot air.
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 8:59 pm
by Lord Jim
I really like that image Ray...it would save me a lot of key strokes...
I think I may replace the Giants image in my sig line with it...(since they are no longer the World Champs)
ETA:
Damn, it won't fit...
But I did add a link for the DP initiative...
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 9:13 pm
by Guinevere
Lord Jim wrote:
How Trumpian of you.
As the one challenged, you have choice of weapon...
Words, wit, and wisdom, s'il vous plait.
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 9:25 pm
by Lord Jim
Words, wit, and wisdom, s'il vous plait.
Well, okay...
But you'd have a much better chance with the pistols...
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 9:31 pm
by Guinevere
"Says" the man going "neener, neener."
Re: team before self
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 9:36 pm
by Big RR
Use the pistols Guin, they're antiques and you won't need a background check.
Save the words, wit, and wisdom for his eulogy.
Re: team before self
Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 7:07 am
by Sean
Lord Jim wrote:More thrilling in some places than in others...
And what exactly is it that this poster boy for the No-Fly List is supposed to have "sacrificed" anyway? Is there extra pay involved in being the team captain? If not, it looks to me like all he's done is get rid of whatever additional responsibilities that came with the title, and reduce the level to which he can be blamed when the team loses...
Reducing one's workload and blame level isn't exactly an act of "selflessness"...
Representing one's country at sport is a great honour Jim. In a team sport, being chosen as captain of the team is an even greater honour. You Seppos wouldn't understand as you don't play your main sports at international level.
