AB's Test career still on hold
Star South African batsman AB de Villiers may have recovered from a nagging elbow injury, but he feels he is still not ready to re-enter the Test arena.
He has consequentially declared himself unavailable for the March Test Series in New Zealand.
De Villiers, who hasn’t raised a bat in anger since July last year and last appeared in a Test match for the Proteas against England last January, made it quite clear though that this didn’t mean he was retiring from Test cricket altogether.
It had been unclear until now whether the 32-year-old star, whose wife is expecting their second child this year, intended to quit Test cricket altogether.
He said he with the 2019 Cricket World Cup in his sights, he saw the need to manage his playing commitments very sensibly and would focus more intensively on the 50 over format of the game.
“I’m just not there yet,” said De Villiers at the launch of the fifth instalment of the Pink Day ODI at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
“I really need to settle things in my head. Something has come to mind – the fact we haven’t won a World Cup yet, he lamented.
“For me to make it to the 2019 World Cup, I can’t really be serious in every format,” he added.
“I want to make sure we get there and lift that trophy. There are other factors at play like family and time away from home, but if I play in all formats all the time, then mentally and physically I won’t be at my best.”
Cricket South Africa CEO Haroon Lorgat says he is confident De Villiers would be available for the British summer series against England.
“I’m convinced his appetite would have returned because then it would be a fair amount of time that he has had. I’m confident England is the kind of series that he would want to be available for,” said Lorgat.
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