In the aftermath of the 3-1 loss against England, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has expressed his frustration over Vernon Philander’s poor fitness.
The Proteas were crippled with batting failures throughout the series, losing their first Test series in England since 1998 and their problems were further aggravated by Philander’s absence. The fast bowler’s absence was felt in the final Test where England thrashed the visitors by 177 runs on Monday (August 7) to register their first series win since last summer.
Philander entered the series after recovering from an ankle injury before braving a viral ailment to play the third Test. However, he had to sit out in the important fourth match due to a back concern. He was criticised by his former Graeme Smith and du Plessis also has echoed the same sentiments in addition to challenging the bowler to sort out the issue which is costing the team dear.
“When he woke up with a stiff back the next morning it was frustrating,” du Plessis said. “It is a challenge for Vern because it’s happened too often that he doesn’t play a full series. I’ve spoken to him about that and he’s accepted the challenge that he needs to improve that.”
Philander’s importance to the team was underlined with his performance in the second Test at Trent Bridge when the visitors bounced back from the defeat in the series-opener to thrash the hosts by 340 runs. The fast-bowler was adjudged the Man of the Match for his all round display and du Plessis said that the team needs him to win matches.
“For us to win Test matches we needed Vern, you need your best players,” said du Plessis. “Duanne (Olivier) bowled well this game but Vern is one of the best in these conditions – probably the best in seaming, swinging conditions which has been the case in all four Test matches. So not having him here was very frustrating and disappointing.”
With his improved batting, Philander also provides a much-needed balance to the team. His batting abilities have allowed South Africa to leave out a batsman and include a fifth bowler. The impact of his absence was very much evident when the Proteas were forced to resort back to four bowlers and seven batsmen in the final Test.
With South Africa set to play against India and Australia, du Plessis hoped that Philander would get fit and play all the matches.
“It’s fair that you need to play a lot of cricket for your country and be available for selection and Vern accepts that,” Du Plessis added. “If you’re only playing one or two Test matches and then off for one or two… there have just been too many times when we as a team go (gulp) ‘Vern might be injured again’.
“So he’s taken it on board from a fitness point of view. We have important series coming up with India and Australia at home. It’s eight Test matches and he needs to be fit to get through all of them,” he said.