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Is AB de Villiers an ATG?

RK_123

School Boy/Girl Captain
All formats combined, the guy has got stats, peer reputation, fan following and has contributed in test series win everywhere.

Do you think he will be remembered in higher recognition to a Clarke or Amla or KP or at same level to all of them?
 

Riggins

International Captain
Probably a level below all of them as a test batsman. May end up being the best limited overs cricketer ever though, so overall he's probably a better player.
 

mr_mister

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I would say yes to the second question as he is top 5 all time for ODIs. Kohli will break the ton record but AB will finish his career with the best avg x strike rate combo I imagine. Has made six hitting look way too easy the past few years
 

Dendarii

International Debutant
This is what Cricinfo came up with for the South Africa all-time XI:

Barry Richards
Graeme Smith
Jacques Kallis
Graeme Pollock
Dudley Nourse
Aubrey Faulkner
Mike Procter
Shaun Pollock
Johnny Waite
Hugh Tayfield
Allan Donald

That was back in 2009, but would De Villiers now make the all-time XI eight years later?

I'm not so sure he would - he wouldn't make it as an opener, nor would he replace Kallis or Pollock, Nourse has a better batting average despite playing in a less batsman-friendly era, and Faulkner and Procter are there for their all-round abilities. So could he come in as the keeper? That's the trickiest position to judge, especially when it comes to stats, and I don't know enough about Johnny Waite to make that assessment.
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
For a SA all time XI, picking AB as the keeper gives you some insane options and flexibility.

B. Richards
G. Smith
J. Kallis
G. Pollock
AB. DeVilliers +
D. Nourse
A. Faulkner
M. Procter/ S. Pollock
H. Tayfield
D. Steyn
A. Donald


Three quicks, plus Kallis, plus a high class offie and a high class leggie.
 

mr_mister

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Yeah seems like a good option. Most of Saffers most famous keepers are known for their batting anyway. Cameron, Lindsay, not certain about Waite but his average makes it seem that way
 

Tom Flint

International Regular
Not saying he walks straight into the atg s.a team but someone listed their keepers without mentioning boucher. Its a joke players of this generation often overlooked
 

StephenZA

Hall of Fame Member
Waite is the obvious choice, QDK is the only one who has the potential to take his place in a SA XI but needs his career to go another 10 years .....

Amla gets into a SA XI, before ABdV for me.... but then I`m pretty biased.
 

Dendarii

International Debutant
Amla gets into a SA XI, before ABdV for me.... but then I`m pretty biased.
That isn't that ridiculous a position to hold as there's not a great deal of difference in their test careers.

Amla: 109 matches, 8578 runs, average 49.87, S/R 50.76
De Villiers: 106 matches, 8074 runs, average 50.46, S/R 53.74

So it's difficult to say that De Villiers is significantly better based on career stats, especially if you take into account Amla having got most of those runs batting at 3, whereas the bulk of De Villiers' innings have been at 5 or 6. So how much do his limited overs end up affecting the opinion of him as a test batsman?
 

SeamUp

International Coach
AB also initially opened and had to keep. But in their proper positions both have played telling knocks for a number of years.

I think they equal as test batsman. It's so close you can have your own fancy.

Amla is a freak ODI batsman but AB is the biggest freak ODI batsman.
 

StephenZA

Hall of Fame Member
The biggest thing, for me, is people think of ABdV first because he is such a flamboyant talent. Amla just gets on with it. In both LO and Test the number of times you hear... "Oh! Amla is on 50 already .... did not realize." I still say the SA test team is best when Amla scores runs, it struggles when he is out of form. Probably been exacerbated by struggling with our opening pair though.
 

Dendarii

International Debutant
In both LO and Test the number of times you hear... "Oh! Amla is on 50 already .... did not realize."
I think that's largely due to Amla's batting not being as aerial as other players. He tends to score his boundaries by piercing the field rather than going over the fielders, which isn't quite as noticeable. Until, as you say, it's noticed that he's got to 50.

I still say the SA test team is best when Amla scores runs, it struggles when he is out of form.
He's very definitely a key player for the team, not just in tests, and I wonder just how many of AB's ODI blitzes have come off the back of a good innings by Amla. We all know that AB can do the impossible, but it's a lot easier to do the impossible when there's been a good foundation laid, which more often than not will have been done by Amla.
 

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