TIME TO MOVE ON

AB's boots too big for JP Duminy to fill

by Tristan Holme • Last updated on

Duminy hasn't been amongst the runs ever since his 155 against Sri Lanka. © AFP

South Africa batsman JP Duminy's time would appear to be up after another set of failures in the first Test defeat to England at Lord's. One year after giving him AB de Villiers's position at No 4 in the batting line-up, South Africa seem to be making peace with the fact that those boots are too big for Duminy to fill - and expect the left-hander to come to terms with it as well.

Since he was moved up the order for the home series against New Zealand last winter, Duminy has averaged 34 in 12 Tests - a slight improvement on his career average of 32.85. De Villiers's continued absence has allowed Duminy to keep his place in the side during that time, along with the fact that he scored two hundreds, the first of them in a crucial phase of the Perth Test against Australia last year and the second a sparkling 155 against Sri Lanka.

But since that knock at the Wanderers in January he has managed just 121 runs in four Tests at an average of 17.28, with a high score of 39. Equally problematic has been his form in one-day cricket. This year Duminy has scored 257 runs in 15 ODIs at an average of 25.70, without managing a fifty.

As South Africa contemplate those numbers after a Test in which their batting fragilities were painfully exposed - England bowled them out for 119 in their second innings - the discourse appears to be changing from one of support for the batsman to an acknowledgement that the time has come to move on.

"JP will be the first guy to say he knows he needs to score runs for this team," Test captain Faf du Plessis said after returning to the South African camp. "He knows at the end of the day that it's about runs. He understands that if it has to come to a position where there is someone else that needs to be looked at, he will be the first to acknowledge it. He is a crucial part of our senior player group and he will always put the team interests above himself, so yes, he will be the first to acknowledge that."

Du Plessis's return means that one of the batsmen will need to make way for the second Test, which starts at Trent Bridge on Friday (July 14). However with Kagiso Rabada set to miss the match through suspension, du Plessis hinted that it won't necessarily be a straight swap.

"There's a few things we can look at going into the next Test match," he said. "Losing 'KG', do you look at possibly playing a four-seam attack because you are losing quite a high quality bowler? That means that we would be a batsman short. That's one option. (Or) you can look at someone like Theunis de Bruyn who has played pretty well this game. There are a few things we need to talk about but it's a little bit early to make decisions. It's important we put this disappointment behind us and start being positive."

With the need to look to the future, de Bruyn appears the obvious choice to retain his place if South Africa decide to stick with seven batsmen, something that looks likely given their recent record and the fact that Trent Bridge generally provides some assistance for the fast bowlers. The 24-year-old made an impressive 48 under pressure in South Africa's first innings at Lord's, putting on 99 with Temba Bavuma after the tourists had fallen to 104 for four.

With Quinton de Kock striking a counter-attacking fifty, the performance of the younger members of the South African squad was the most encouraging element of an often disappointing display.

"It's a massive stage and it's guys standing up," noted du Plessis. "Someone like de Bruyn, standing up at Lord's and it's only his second Test match. He was solid in that first innings. He played well. Temba once again has been consistent. Something Temba needs to work on is making sure he converts those starts. He is playing brilliantly but he knows that fifties don't win us matches."

Du Plessis cut a relaxed figure under the circumstances. Attempting to turn the South African ship around will be his toughest test yet as captain but he did not appear daunted by the challenge.

"It's really important that after this Test, we don't fall into a mental hangover of the tour we have had so far," he said. "That will be one of my most important jobs and the senior players this week, how to make sure we stay well away from that and focus on the next Test match."

© Cricbuzz

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