Last Chance Saloon: Jacques Rudolph playing to save his career.

Last week, I wrote about Jacques Rudolph and how he stood to gain the most out of JP Duminy's injury if he made the most of his opportunities.

I wrote how Rudolph has perhaps struggled to make runs in the number six batting slot because South Africa's top order had done very well over the last 12 months and when he did come in it was always in search of quick runs, which perhaps is not his natural game. But in the 2nd Test in Adelaide, Rudolph had the opportunity to make plenty of runs, in part because the top order collapsed and because he batted at no.4 because of an injury to Jacques Kallis and perhaps some tiredness on AB De Villiers' part due to the extra burden of keeping wicket.

Regardless, Rudolph couldn't make the most of his chances and scored 29 and 3. The man who did take advantage of his opportunity though was Faf du Plessis, Duminy's replacement for this test. I thought going in to the Test though that the South African selectors would relent and give Thami Tsolekile the gloves but even he says he didn't expect to get into the XI as quoted by Australian papers. 

Duminy will not make an immediate return to the Proteas but between know and when he does come back there could be a lot of players who have put their names in the hat for a place in the team. Rudolph needs to be careful beacuse other players offer a little more than solid batting, like du Plessis who can turn a few with his wrist and is also an excellent fielder. Robin Peterson and Duminy also bat and bowl a bit so when the selectors look back, maybe they could decide Rudolph offers the least if he's not scoring big runs. Rudolph will survive until the 3rd Test but when the Proteas return for their home series against NZ & Pakistan, he might find himself back playing for the Titans if he doesn't put up a very big score in the final test. The SA batting line up will be under a lot more scrutiny since Kallis is expected to miss the final Test through injury putting a lot more pressure to make runs on the other batsmen. When the third Test does come around, Rudolph might find himself in the match to fight for his career. Who knows, it could be motivation he needs.

Misfortune and Opportunity.

Nobody wants to see a good player, or any other player, sidelined by injury especially one as serious as an Achilles tendon snapping. But when it does happen, we can only hope for a swift and complete recovery and to see that player get back to his best. With JP Duminy's freak injury ruling him out of action for up to six months, it might seem as though the Australians are the biggest beneficiaries in the short term, but the person who stands to gain the most out of the situation is Jacques Rudolph.

Rudolph has been in the number 6 slot since last summer after years of good performances in domestic and county cricket. But since he returned to the Test side, he hasn't stamped his authority and made that spot his own. There will come a time when the SA selectors decide that AB de Villiers is not suited to keeping wicket and performing with the bat. Class wicket-keeper batsmen aren't a dime-a-dozen and it is extremely rare that a keeper can hold on to his keeping spot and still perform with the bat. Look at Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara who has performed far better as a batsman without the added responsibility of the gloves. At some point, the Proteas would have had to find a spot for a specialist keeper and the person most likely to fall away would have been one of Rudolph or Duminy.

Rudolph now has the opportunity to make runs without looking over his shoulder to see what Duminy is doing. Granted, it is difficult to make runs in the South African line up at number 6 especially when the top order has been performing so well over the last year. During the recent Test series against England, the first which featured Rudolph at number 6 and Duminy at 7, Rudolph averaged 35,25 in 4 innings whilst Duminy averaged 67, 5. There will be a little added pressure on Rudolph though, as every innings he bats from now until the New Zealand and Pakistan tours to South Africa in December and early 2013 will be watched with intense scrutiny, but at least in the race for the number 6 spot he doesn't have to worry about Duminy breathing on the back of his neck, for the time being.

Remember The Name: part 1 - The heir to Boucher's Throne.

At the moment, the South African cricket team does not have a specialist wicketkeeper. AB de Villiers, one of the Proteas' more accomplished fielders has been entrusted with the responsibility of the gloves while being expected to continue performing with the bat.

It is quite a farcical situation considering that a specialist 'keeper in Thami Tsolekile is waiting in reserve. The only reason that I can come up with as to why Tsolekile hasn’t yet found himself in the XI is that perhaps his batting could be deemed as suspect and I don’t suppose the South African selectors would have wanted to expose him to a bowling attack as proficient as England’s during the tour of England a few months back. The real toss up for the selectors right now is JP Duminy’s batting versus that of Tsolekile. Duminy averages 37, 57 runs per innings in Tests and 51 in First Class matches compared to Tsolekile’s 9, 40 in Tests and 29, 01 in all First Class games; granted Duminy has played in thirteen more Tests. But at some point, the selectors will realise that they do in fact need a specialist wicketkeeper and right now that solution is Tsolekile. However considering that Tsolekile is in his thirties and only a few years younger than the previous keeper, Mark Boucher, even he cannot be regarded as a long term fixture behind the stumps. So who will the SA selectors turn to?

CLT20: De Kock celebrates after making 50 against the Mumbai Indians

I am putting my money on young Highveld Lions keeper/batsman Quinton de Kock. He is 19 and in his breakthrough season of professional cricket. Initially, he was a highly thought of gloveman who was handy with the bat but since the days of his early promise, de Kock has proven that he is as good in behind the stumps as he is with bat in hand. The left-handed batsman starred for the SA u19 cricket team at the World Cup played in Australia earlier this year where he made 284 runs in 6 matches at an average of 47,33 and an impressive strike rate of 102,52. De Kock has been a regular in the senior set-up at Gauteng cricket since 2009 where he made his debut as a 16 year old representing the Gauteng senior amateur side in a game against Border. He has been most impressive in First Class cricket where he has amassed 1209 runs in 14 matches at an average of 63, 63 and most remarkably in that time he has already scored 4 centuries with his highest score of 194 scored earlier this season against the Cape Cobras. De Kock seems like the real deal. He has been a consistent and quality performer in all 3 formats of the game and he is an attacking batsman as his strike rate of almost 88 in first class cricket suggests and a powerful striker of the ball, in the mould of Adam Gilchrist. 

Tidy Glovework.

Mark Boucher was able to stand alone as South Africa’s wicketkeeper without any pretenders to his throne or anyone mounting a serious challenge for the wicketkeeper’s spot for 15 years apart from Tsolekile who knocked him off his perch for a brief period in 2004. The reality of it is that there isn’t a shortage of skilled or talented ‘keepers playing the domestic game, all you have to do is cast a glance at the list of ‘keepers playing in SA: Morne van Wyk, Davy Jacobs, and Daryn Smit etc… But I reckon de Kock would have the edge over anybody else because quite simply he is young and could have the same opportunity as mark Boucher to grow in the role of being the Proteas gloveman, and, if given the choice, the decision makers, I think, would want someone who is a quality performer and one who would be able to make the position his own and remained settled in that spot for a long period of time. If this is so then de Kock is their man. Remember the name Quinton de Kock. You’re gonna be hearing it a lot soon.