Sunday Times
TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg
When Graeme Smith lost a World Cup, he went to Ireland. When Faf du Plessis lost a World Cup, he came home to tell us how and why.
To leave those two statements hanging like green bottles on the wall would be a disservice on several fronts.
Smith was roundly criticised for his no-show on the SA squad’s return from the 2011 World Cup. Cricket SA (CSA), too, copped flak for allowing him to do abdicate his responsibility.
When Smith did come home - having successfully proposed to Morgan Deane - a television channel put up a scornful headline over footage of his belated press conference: “Hello stranger.”
No amount of explanation by Smith in the bleak days immediately after his team’s quarter-final choke against New Zealand would have made South Africans feel better. And how could love be less important than any press conference?
But those who have accepted the yoke of duty have no choice. They are expected to wear it at all times, and to wear it proudly. Or else.
Three years on, the only reason Du Plessis was sat behind a table at OR Tambo International just after 9am on Monday and not en route from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates - where his Chennai Super Kings will play their opening match of the Indian Premier League on Friday - was to explain SA performance at the World T20, where they lost to India in the semi-finals.
The trip from Dhaka to Johannesburg had consumed much of Du Plessis’ weekend, what with limited flight availability. On Thursday, he was back on board to join up with CSK.
If he had gone from Bangladesh to the UAE directly, he would have spent four-and-a-half hours in the air. Instead, he put up with an eight-and-a-half hour flight from Johannesburg.
Had Du Plessis proceeded straight to the IPL, who could have argued? His team had not suffered the meltdown Smith’s had. They had simply lost to a better side. What else could we need to know that Russell Domingo could not tell us?
And Du Plessis had a job to do - a fact that would ring with validity far louder in the minds of many cricket fans than hopes of marriage.
But there the captain was, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in his No. 1s as the notebooks flipped open and the cameras rolled.
CSA take a lot of criticism in this space. This time, they should take a bow: well done. Bringing Du Plessis home to talk us through what happened shows respect for South Africans. It was the right thing to do.
This also reminds us that the SA team are growing up. Du Plessis is already married, as are all of the senior, established players in the SA squad - bar Dale Steyn. And who, seriously, can imagine Steyn settling down even 20 years from now? So many tattoos, so little time ...
Next season, now that Smith and Jacques Kallis are gone, there will be room to grow even more. Giants are good to have around, especially when shoulders are needed for standing on. But they take up a lot of space inside the minds of those around them.
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