The man who wasn’t there

“I don’t think you should have to beg a guy to play for his country.” - Ottis Gibson on AB de Villiers

Sunday Times

TELFORD VICE in Southampton

THE elephant wasn’t in the room on Saturday. Ottis Gibson was, and it was up to him to explain why AB de Villiers was everywhere — except at the World Cup.

News broke on Thursday that De Villiers, who retired from international cricket last May, had tested the waters about a comeback and was told he had left it too late.

The bombshell followed South Africa’s loss to India on Wednesday, their third defeat in as many matches.

If they don’t beat West Indies in Southampton on Monday — or if they lose any of their remaining league games — they are likely to be dead men walking on the long march towards the semi-finals.

Batting has been South Africa’s major problem. They were dismissed for 207 by England and held to 227/9 by India, and even through they made 309/8 against Bangladesh the Tigers’ had topped that with 330/6.

And all the while De Villiers, one of the most destructive players in the white-ball game, has been just as much a spectator as the rest of us.

That’s his own doing, considering he retired on May 23 last year. If he changed his mind, he could have returned to play in South Africa’s home series last season and thus been in the running for the World Cup squad. Instead he chose to play in T20 competitions in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

During the first week of the Indian Premier League at the end of March, De Villiers had a casual conversation with Faf du Plessis about playing in the World Cup.

“Faf phoned me and then at some point after that [De Villiers] then phoned me to say is there any chance that he could come back and I said I have to speak to CSA [Cricket South Africa].

“I spoke to the chairman of selectors [Linda Zondi] and we all came to the conclusion that he had left it too late.”

Around May 18, Gibson’s phone rang again …

“AB called me the morning that the squad was going to be announced. It was either the morning or the night before. He was told that if he was going to be available for the World Cup, then he needed to be available for the Pakistan and Sri Lanka series [last summer].”

Gibson was at pains to make plain that, as good as De Villiers is, South Africa had moved on.

“I don’t think you should have to beg a guy to play for his country but I did make it clear to him that I thought he was making a bad decision and that he could help us win the World Cup.”

And another thing …

“Since he has retired we have won every series we’ve played, and I haven’t had many AB questions. Suddenly we’ve come to the World Cup and we’ve had one bad week, and AB is the saviour.

“But AB has retired. He’s made his decision. We have to live with the decision he has made. He has to live with the decision he has made.

“To come back the day before [the squad announcement] and say he’d like to come back would seem strange, to say the least.

“He made his decision and he has said continuously that he is happy with his decision.

“There are lot more people wanting AB to be here than AB himself. If AB wanted to be here, he would be here. But he is wherever he is in the world right now doing exactly what he wants to be doing. If he wanted to be here, he would be here.

“We can talk about AB all we want but he's not here and he cannot help us. Only we can help us. We have to keep believing in ourselves and in the people who are here to do well in the tournament.”

Ah yes, Monday’s game. Lungi Ngidi seems a doubtful starter with his sore hamstring but Rassie van der Dussen’s groin won’t be a problem.

West Indies dismissed Pakistan for 105 but then lost a tight game against Australia. They are big, bruising and confident.

South Africa aren’t. They will have to be on Monday.