Cricket South Africa (CSA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Haroon Lorgat has made it clear that swashbuckling Proteas batsman AB de Villiers is not picking and choosing Test games as he has already made himself unavailable for the three-match Test series against New Zealand, which is scheduled from March 8.
“This is a plan that we had six months ago. It’s just a case of when he starts or when he returns. Because once he starts, there’s no stopping and no time off,” Lorgat was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
de Villiers, who has recovered from his elbow injury, is more than willing to extend his career till the 2019 World Cup.
“When you play, you play continuously. So he’s not picking and choosing. These are deliberate discussions that we’re having and which will continue,” Lorgat said.
Lorgot also stressed the 32-year-old AB de Villiers won’t be entertained to remain off the field once he returns to the longer format of the game.
“I’m most satisfied by the kind of conversations we’re having with him. He’s clear about when he’s going to be ready and when he’s not ready. His clarity is important because then selectors are aware and we move on,” Lorgat added.
Earlier, the speculations were rife that the right-handed batsman is contemplating to retire from Test cricket, which he quashed on January 17 by stating ‘I am only opting out the Test series against Black Caps’.
“The absence of AB has allowed others to step up, and we’ve developed other players. It’s fantastic from my point of view that we have more than 11 that can take the field and be a winning formula,” Lorgat said on remarkable Proteas’ team performance.
However, Lorgat was also hopeful to see de Villiers preparing for the Test series in England.
“ODI cricket is the focus because he’s the captain. Test cricket is different. We’ve got a settled team, we’ve got the resources to go through. If he was not the captain of the ODI team it might have been different,” Lorgat added.
The Pretoria-born wicket-keeper batsman de Villiers has been out of action since August, 2016.
“If the selectors and the team feel that they have a winning team going, AB is fully aware that it’s the selectors that will determine whether he comes back into the team or not,” Lorgat concluded.
On January 25, de Villiers, who made himself available, is expected to return to international cricket – to play the third Twenty20 International match against Sri Lanka at Newlands Stadium.