ZA Cricket

Openers

1. Graeme Smith – 2008. 1656 runs at an average of 72. 6×100. 6×50. 

2. Herschelle Gibbs – 2003. 1156 runs at an average of 64.22. 4×100 3×50

3. Hashim Amla – 2012. 1064 runs at an average of 70.93. 4×100 2×50

4. Jacques Kallis – 2007.  1210 runs at an average of 86.43. 5×100 6×50, 20 wickets at 25.75 

5. AB de Villiers – 2010. 996 runs at an average of 76.62. 3x 100 4×50

6. Ashwell Prince – 2008. 900 runs at an average of 64.28

Maybe the single biggest surprise on the list. There certainly were a rather large number of possible entrants for this spot. Graeme Pollock was voted South Africa’s cricketer of the c20th century, so he obviously was worth selection consideration. Certainly, if we were picking a normal all-time XI, there could be no doubt that Pollock would likely be the second name on the team-sheet. But a lack of Test matches – he never played more than seven Tests in a calendar year, nor did he ever score more than 700 Test runs – made it difficult to argue that he had a single year as dominant as the above-mentioned playerss. His most dominant year, 1965, saw him score 678 runs at an average of 68, is not much better than what Ashwell Prince managed in 2008. Daryll Cullinan was another name which made a very strong run in 1999, scoring over 800 runs at an average of over 70, but if you pick him, you now have to be mildly concerned that the Shane Warne would volunteer to play for the Martians just to torture Cullinan one more time. Ashwell Prince makes his bow as a very reliable and capable number six. Additionally, much like Smith, him being the star turn in arguably the most successful year in South African cricket history does work in his favour. South Africa found themselves 1-0 down at home against the West Indies to start 2008, before Prince helped turn the series around to the tune of two straight man of the match performances to help South Africa win the series 2-1. Prince presented arguably the best batsman on between the two sides as he scored two centuries to help seal South Africa’s first series win in England since 1965. His second century set up South Africa’s first win of the series at Headingley as Prince won his third man of the match award for the year. Prince would finish off his year with a century to spare South Africa’s blushes against Bangladesh. Scoring 162 not out to help South Africa recover from a rather perilous 134/5 at home vs Bangladesh. This Houdini act would win Prince his fourth man of the match performance of the year. Considering the fact that only 110 men have more than four man of the match awards in Test cricket, to have a man who received the award four times in nine months shoring up your middle-order seems something of a no-brainer. 

7. Quinton de Kock WK – 2016. 695 runs at an average of 63.18

This is a bit of an interesting one. Firstly, I was pretty certain that Quinton de Kock would be the wicket-keeper. AB de Villiers scored 7 tons in 24 Tests as wicketkeeper at an average of 57.41. In 2013, he played nine matches and scored 933 runs at an average of 77 while donning the gloves. But, he was already selected, and although for purposes of this discussion, we have a time machine to get every player in their peak form, the rules of physics still exist, we cannot have two versions of AB de Villiers in the same place at the same time. To that end, de Kock in 2016 takes his place, and he is a worthy replacement. Scored his first ODI hundred in 2016, then scored two fifties in the same match as an opener while donning the gloves. Finished off the year with a magnificent hundred in Hobart to help the Proteas win their third series in a row in Australia. Surprisingly 2016 was the only year where de Kock averaged more than 50 with the bat, perhaps showing just how much of a disappointment de Kock’s career with the bat ended up being.