The UCB president says Hansie Cronje will replace Kepler Wessels as cricket captain, writes Paul Martin
THE United Cricket Board of South Africa this week confirmed the accuracy of a WM&G report in last week’s issue disclosing plans to replace Kepler Wessels as captain with the present vice-captain Hansie Cronje this year.
Commenting for the first time on the captaincy issue, UCB president Krish Mackerdhuj told the WM&G this week: “The board did give general directions that Kepler should be replaced as captain either for the one-day series or when New Zealand come to us. It was part of the planning process.”
He added: “Kepler has served us well, but we have been looking for the best time to make the change, because we have to look to the future.”
While the selectors had the right to choose the captain, it was expected that the UCB executive would give “guidance” on so crucial a question, he noted. Without wishing to state publicly his view on the timing of the move, he considered that Cronje’s recent loss of form “does put a slightly different light on things”. He also disagreed personally with the commonly held view that Wessels was no longer suited to one-day cricket.
Dr Ali Bacher, chief executive of the UCB, this week denied that Wessels had been subjected to a “secret sacking” as the country’s cricket captain, as proclaimed in last week’s WM&G. “The process by which Kepler will stand down as captain was under way with his full knowledge and acceptance,” Bacher stated. “It was therefore not kept secret from him. He has been invited to take part in the meeting on September 9 when the party to play in the triangular one-day tournament in Pakistan will be decided, and his own future determined.”
Bacher did not deny the general accuracy of the WM&G article, which quoted unnamed high-ranking cricket sources. It had correctly stated that the authorities were planning to bring in Cronje as the next captain from the Pakistan tour onwards, he said.
The article quoted Wessels as saying that he would be willing to serve under Cronje, and that his desire to captain the team was anyway waning. “It has its ups and downs, and I’m pleased I have had the experience, and when things go well it’s thrilling. But it’s highly possible I will not do it again.”
For his part, Cronje had expressed a desire that whoever next captained South Africa should start off by having the unparalleled experience of Wessels to draw on as a team member. He had also suggested that his own temporary poor batting form could affect his immediate authority as captain.
Latest considerations within the UCB point to the possibility that the selectors will be urged to retain Wessels for the Pakistan series while Cronje recovers his undoubted qualities as a world-class batsman. The change could then be made for the home series against New Zealand.