South Africa captain AB de Villiers has called for changes in the way test matches were being played. He said that he was not enjoying cricket like in the past and the game should move with the times. He said that he was committed himself to South Africa for the rest of the series against England but offered no assurances about his future beyond the next two Tests.
Players are now able to earn more money appearing in Twenty20 leagues such as the Big Bash and the IPL which are shorter and less demanding on the body. His comments follow Tony Irish, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers’, saying that “free agency” is on the rise among his members and more players will drift away from international cricket unless the International Cricket Council makes radical changes.
“There has been a few rumours floating around and in most rumours there is always a little bit of truth,” said De Villiers, in his first press conference since taking over from Hashim Amla as South Africa captain. “It is not just in the last while, in the last two or three years I've been searching for the right answers to play a little bit less cricket in one way or another to keep myself fresh and to keep enjoying the game.
“I've found myself on the pitch in the past few years, every now and then, not enjoying myself as much as I should be and that raises concerns within myself. I'm still very committed. To the job I'm not sure, obviously the two Test matches for now is all I'm focusing on, and there is a nice six month break before we play Test match cricket again. Lots of things can happen before then and I don't want to commit myself too much to everything before then, but for now I'm as committed as I can be and I'm very hungry to make a success of the next two Test matches.”
He clearly wants to reduce his workload with South Africa, perhaps just playing the big Test and one-day series as well as ICC events, while also cashing in on the Twenty20 dollar. Players are now far more powerful. Now players from countries such as South Africa have other options offering them more money than their home board.
It would be a huge blow to the standing of international cricket if a player of De Villiers’ ability play less for his country and would possibly lead others to follow suit. “I think it is a going concern for ICC. They have been talking about it for the last few years to find a way of keeping everyone fresh. Test cricket is the main format and we all want to be part of that. Huge traditions and culture in this format but I truly believe there are one or two areas where we can improve and the guys keep their focus in the right place,” De Villiers said.
“International cricket is the main one you want to play and one or two things will have to change in the future in order for that to happen. There has been plenty of surveys in the last few years. I have seen some changes in the past. There are still one or two that need to get attention from the ICC,” said De Villiers. “One of those is the schedules for the more senior guys to make sure they keep their focus in the right places. I don’t know what the answers are. I can’t make a statement. All I know is there are quite a few guys feeling we are playing a bit too much cricket and just need to get the focus right.”
