Victory in Sri Lanka would answer Amla questions

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Maldives

SA had more than one reason to celebrate at the weekend. The most important among them was winning a one-day series in Sri Lanka for the first time. Another was Faf du Plessis’ 30th birthday. Ryan McLaren, meanwhile, would have wanted have raised a toast to his sister’s wedding.

So, there might have been a few tender heads bobbing gingerly on the trip from Hambantota, where SA clinched the ODI rubber on Saturday, to Galle, where the test series starts tomorrow. But, even if Hashim Amla had been in the habit of sinking the odd beer, his would not have been among those sore heads.

For the first time tomorrow, Amla will captain SA in a test. Thus, he will need his sobriety as well as his wits about him. He is a peerless player and a man beyond reproach, but what kind of captain he will make is anyone’s guess.

Amla has dabbled in the odd art of designated leadership with the Dolphins and with SA’s short format teams. This time, however, things will be different.

For one thing, the buck will stop with Amla: he is the appointed captain, not a caretaker. For another, the world will watch for signs that the cares of captaincy are affecting his batting. For still another, he will have to banish - and quickly - the perception that he is a reluctant leader.

In fact, it is far away from a dressingroom in which Amla is hailed as something close to a superhero that he will face his greatest test.

If someone as straightforward as Graeme Smith can be misunderstood for most of his tenure as SA’s captain being misunderstood, what chance does Amla have of not having to explain his every move to an unfair degree?

Or he could lead SA to victory in Sri Lanka and the nation’s reactionaries will shut up and sit down, at least for now. What would that take, considering SA have won only one test series there - and 21 years ago at that?

“I have always believed that because Sri Lanka is a small island, conditions play a big role,” former SA coach Gary Kirsten said yesterday. “There always seems to be something happening (with the conditions) at some point in the match.

“Teams that adapt well to the changing conditions and play accordingly, I believe, have a better chance of success.”

What would it mean for SA if they won the series?

“I think it would be a great starting point for a team which I’m sure has set some new goals. The absence of Graeme (Smith) and Jacques (Kallis) represents a new era. This is a team with a lot of quality players and I’m excited by what they can achieve.”

The Lankans are about to enter a new era themselves, what with Mahela Jayawardene announcing yesterday that this series and the two matches against Pakistan next month will be his swansong to test cricket.

Amla can’t afford to pay that sideshow much heed. If his team prevails, the silence will be as golden in his ears as it must in Russell Domingo’s after SA’s historic win in the ODI series.

Suddenly, no-one is questioning his credentials to coach an international team.