ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Ashwell Prince questions AB de Villiers and Cricket South Africa
What’s the story?
Former South African player Ashwell Prince has slammed Cricket South Africa for being dictated to by individual players who do not have National interest at heart.
After South Africa's humiliating loss to India in a virtual quarter-final at the Oval, Prince took to social media site and in an apparent dig at captain AB de Villiers questioned the board for not having the spine to formulate rules which make players accountable when they represent their country.
The Details
Prince, who had a good enough International career with South Africa also blamed the attitude of the players after the loss. He believed that despite having the best and top ranked the bowlers and batsmen in the squad the team consistently fails to win big tournaments and this can only be down to the flimsy attitude of the players.
It can be safely said that Prince has questioned AB de Villers as the South African captain has picked the series and tournaments he wants to be a part of over the recent past and this has not gone down well with the team which has never settled down as a unit.
He has thus asked the board to put its feet down and demand players to be a part of the squads rather than this being the other way round.
In case you didn’t know...
South Africa continued their dismal run in a knockout affair in ICC tournaments when they were shunted aside by India by 8 wickets and were thus dumped out of the tournament.
One of the primary reasons for this ‘choke’ was the dismissal of AB de Villiers when he was run out and all hell broke loose for the Proteas as they were bundled out for a paltry 191.
What's next?
Although Prince’s account is not yet verified, this assumption holds a lot of meat and even as AB de Villiers has made it clear that he wanted to lead the side for the 2019 World Cup, it would be interesting to see how Cricket South Africa manages affairs.
Author's Take
One has to feel for AB de Villiers who has put his Test future on hold in order to lead South Africa to an ICC title, but for some reason, his side finds ways to squander opportunities.
Ashwell Prince might be right when he says that the board should dictate proceedings to players, but having said this few can question the commitment of AB de Villiers. However, after this beleaguered campaign, the future of AB as a player and as a captain is not entirely cozy at the moment.