ENGLAND'S TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA, 2016

AB de Villiers calls for coaching shake-up

by Cricbuzz Staff • Published on

AB de Villiers said he would like to see new faces in the coaching staff to arrest an alarming dip in his team's form. © Cricbuzz

After conceding the Test series to England, at home, AB de Villiers, South Africa's Test captain, has stated that he would like an overhaul of the coaching staff in order to arrest an alarming dip in his team's form.

The hosts head into the fourth and final Test against England on Friday (January 22) at SuperSport Park 2-0 down in the series and without a Test win in over a year.

De Villiers - only appointed as skipper for the last two Tests of the series after the surprise resignation of Hashim Amla - said he was keen to remain captain but wanted to have talks about strengthening the coaching staff before their next Test assignment against New Zealand, in August.

"I am keen to play a big role going forward but it's not solely my decision," he said. "I've seen a lot of talent come through. We just need to get a bit of experience and a few smart heads involved."

De Villiers said he wanted to meet Haroon Lorgat, the Cricket South Africa chief executive, and Linda Zondi, the convener of selectors, to "find out exactly where we are going to go".

South Africa have often been criticized for the lack of hard experience in their coaching set-up and, in particular, for the lack of a batting coach. And the new Test skipper agreed that a batting coach was their top priority.

"I think we have been a bit naive in believing we can just go on in the way we have been. We need to get a bit of advice and help, not only from a batting coach, a few other areas as well.That will all be discussed after the series. We have a nice break and time to think about things."

De Villiers said he was keen to turn things around for the team, who have slipped from the number one Test ranking after their recent series loss.

"There are no dead rubbers when it comes to Test match cricket. We'd hate to lose 3-0. I think 2-1 sounds a lot better.We haven't won a Test match for 12 months. We are rebuilding a bit and trying to find our feet but it's time for us to wake up and play proper cricket," he said.

On the eve of the fourth Test, de Villiers confirmed that specialist opening batsman Stephen Cook would be a part of the playing XI and also hinted that steady seamer Kyle Abbott and off-spinner Dane Piedt would come back into the side.

The South African captain said that although England "seem to know what they are doing, there is no doubt in my mind that there are weaknesses there".Asked to elaborate, he said, "The batting unit is not 100 percent the best in the world. I believe we can find a few cracks in the batting line-up."

Alastair Cook, the England captain, meanwhile said he hoped his side would continue to be as "ruthless" as they were in Johannesburg."Our training yesterday was as intense as it was at the start of the tour - it would be great end the tour unbeaten."

Cook acknowledged there was some validity in de Villiers' comments about the England batting."A lot of the runs have been scored by Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow. The other guys haven't quite contributed, myself included, so we have the opportunity in this game."

Cook also said Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan and uncapped Mark Footitt were all in contention to replace injured pacer Steven Finn."It's a big decision, they all three provide different options," Cook concluded.

© Cricbuzz (with inputs from agencies)

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