Polly Gone :( , Next captain?

[Langeveldt]

Well today the UCBSA in their infinate wisdom announced that Shaun Pollock was being sacked as captain with "immediate effect"

Nice of them to thank him for his help in rebuilding SA cricket after Cronjé left it in such a mess...


So who next to turn to? I like the look of Boeta Dippenaar and Graham Smith who has had captain experience before...


Herschelle Gibbs - bit too hot headed at the best of times, awesome batsman and permanent fixture though...

Jacques Kallis - Not sure about his commitment to SA cricket.

Mark Boucher - not leadership material...

 

[age_master]

you would have to think that boucher or Kallis would become sipper

 

[Cloete]

i definitely think boucher. to me he'd be a bloddy good captain.

 

[Rik]

Gibbs for me. Kallis...if he's not committed to SA Cricket then what is he committed to?

 

[krkode]

Hasn't Kallis confirmed that he will be playing for SA.

if so, my vote to Kallis. I don't think Boucher seems leadership material either. His presence in the middle never seemed commanding

As for Gibbs, I'm think his former match fixing ban will make him seem like a bad choice for the bosses, but you never know...he definitely has a commanding presence :P

 

[Langeveldt]

What about Dipennaar and Smith? They are young but still inexperienced and not guarenteed a test spot, but the UCBSA were talking about them

 

[Tim]

Well for me it has to be Boucher, he's been vice captain for a long time now & if they don't select him it would come as a big surprise especially to him.

I would definately not give the captaincy to Gibbs, he's been really the only batsmen holding the South African innings together at the top & if you give him extra responsibility then I think he'd struggle to opening the innings & score the amount of runs he's getting at the moment.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

After reviewing the team several times, I have arrived at the opinion that the South African selectors should give the captaincy to...................Shaun Pollock!

He was and is a damn good captain!

 

[Andre]

Personally, I think if Neil McKenzie was in the team he would be the clear standout for the job.

My guess is the job goes to either Boucher or Graeme Smith.

Hercshelle Gibbs is lots of things, but one of the things he is not is a born leader.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Graeme Smith... because no-one else really fits.

Gibbs, Kallis - too important
Kirsten - too old
Boucher - 2nd favourite
Dippenaar - I've never thought he was that good anyway, don't know his captaincy though

 

[marc71178]

Neil, Dippenaar's One Day record is very impressive.

The whispers I've heard are that Smith will get it, at the age of 22.

 

[Tim]

Dippenaar hardly makes the South African test side so I don't know why he would be considered unless they want seperate captains for the ODI's & Tests.

Neil McKenzie would be a good option but it seems he's fallen out of favour with the selectors so he can't be in with much of a chance.

I think Boucher is the clear favourite but as the media reacts to this, it seems Graeme Smith could be other man in the running, 22 is a very young age to captain a team like South Africa.

 

[Rich2001]

In the Press Release they announced that they would name the captain tommorow, but not the Vice Cap for 2 weeks (obviously harder to pick VC now-a-days).

So regardless of the decision Boucher is no longer Vice Captain (unless I miss heard, but not sure what else it could have been)

But if they are willing to punish Pollock for a poor World Cup, then surely Boucher deserves some of the credit for his poor displays as well, afterall he did put down some costly sitters.... S.Fleming on route to 130 odd the worse

 

[Simon]

Pollock is the best captain for them, if there was a better candidate i wouldnt have a problem changing the captain, but they are just changing it for the sake of it.

 

[V Reddy]

I read that it is most probably going to be Smith. I read it in cricketworldcup.com . One of the SAF officials said that. I also read that some of the Saf players were not impressed with Pollock's Captaincy.

 

[marc71178]

Smith's been confirmed now.

Terrible decision if you ask me. 8 Tests, all of them at home...

When was the last time an established Test nation picked one so inexperienced? My guess would be Germon?

 

[krkode]

And this was a guy who couldn't make the first 15 for the South African world cup

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

He should've made the first 15 though...

 

[aussie_beater]

I am not sure as to why a 22 year old newbie has been selected to lead the SA team..... did I miss something ? Why isn't Kallis or Gibbs or Boucher given the job ? I am looking for the logic behind this horrendous stupidity, if there is any.

 

[Tim]

Well this is just crazy to me..a 22 year old with zero experience trying to lead the likes of Gibbs, Kallis etc...he must be a born leader if the UCB were willing to do this.

It will be interesting to see how Smith does under pressure, I recall that he came out in the media last year when McGrath got stuck into him & complained but now as captain he will have nowhere to run.