South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen retires from test cricket after Dean Elgar
South African heavy hitter Heinrich Klaasen has announced his retirement from Test cricket, days after Dean Elgar’s farewell match.
New Delhi: Days after South Africa’s Dean Elgar played his farewell Test match against Team India in Cape Town, heavy hitter Heinrich Klaasen has announced his retirement from red-ball cricket. However, Klaasen will continue to represent the Proteas team in white ball cricket. The wicketkeeper-batsman has played just four matches in the white jersey in international cricket, scoring 104 runs without a half-century or century. His best score in the format is 35 runs.
Many former cricketers believe that the rise of the T20 competition around the world has been a major factor in the decline of Test cricket. Legendary Protea batsman AB de Villiers also raised the issue after the recently concluded IND vs SA series saw just two Test matches.
Proteas are also facing a lot of backlash after announcing a weakened squad for the upcoming New Zealand series.
South Africa’s next Test assignment will be a two-match tour of New Zealand in February. However, their leading players will remain at home to play the second season of SA20, which starts on January 10, as the competition clashes with the Test tour of New Zealand.
The 14-member South African squad for the New Zealand tour will be captained by opener Neil Brand, one of seven uncapped players in the squad. The move earned South Africa huge criticism for prioritizing their franchise T20 league over a Test series for financial sustainability reasons.
De Villiers believes Test cricket is under pressure from T20s and admitted that players and coaches would rather opt for franchise leagues than play the longer formats such as Tests and ODIs.
“The (South African Test team for New Zealand) has sent shockwaves through the cricket world and made it clear that Test cricket is under pressure, even ODI cricket for that matter, and the entire system is turning T20 cricket around.”
“The players, the board and the coaches will focus on where there is more money. You can’t blame them for thinking about their future together with their family.”