Former South African cricket captain Faf du Plessis may still make an international comeback in the T20 format, according to ESPNcricinfo. Although he was not included in the squad to face the West Indies later this month, du Plessis is in discussions with new white-ball coach Rob Walter about the possibility of a return.
Contractual and scheduling issues have made it difficult to finalise a return at present, but Cricket South Africa (CSA) will be announcing new central contracts later this month. There has been talk of single-format contracts, and du Plessis could be included for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“We have always been open to talks with our freelance players and Rob is very much interested in resuming those conversations,” said Enoch Nkwe, CSA’s Director of Cricket.
“We’ve got to try our utmost best to be on the front foot. A lot of players are still committed to all three formats but we have some players who are only white ball and some only red ball. What we foresee in the near future, maybe even the next 12 months, is that we might even go more specifically to T20, ODI and Test contracts. Those are some of the things that we’re actually looking at.”
Impressive stats in international leagues
Du Plessis retired from Test cricket in February 2021 but remained available for white-ball formats. However, he was not selected for any series, including the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups, despite his impressive form in international leagues across the world.
Since his final Test, du Plessis has played 90 innings in the PSL, CPL, IPL, BPL, BBL, and SA20, scoring 2747 runs at 33.91, higher than his overall average of 31.18, including four of his five T20 hundreds.
Talks for T20I World Cups
Nkwe confirmed du Plessis was in talks with CSA about making a comeback for both T20I World Cups, but the selection panel at the time, which consisted of Victor Mpitsang and Patrick Moroney, could not come to an agreement.
“There were conversations before the World Cup with the selection panel and the coach and they concluded (without a solution),” Nkwe said. “From a CSA point of view, we are happy to engage and see how we can find the best way forward.”
Selection challenges
With Mark Boucher’s tenure as South Africa’s coach ending, selection is now the responsibility of respective head coaches. This may give Walter more say in whether to engage freelancers, but it does not solve the primary concerns of fixtures and money, which prevented AB de Villiers from returning to play in the 2019 World Cup.
In 2018, De Villiers had requested du Plessis, then South Africa’s all-format captain, to play the 2019 ODI World Cup, but his request was declined. CSA had asked him to participate in at least two out of 10 ODI series before the event, which he declined for scheduling and financial reasons.
Short-term contracts may be the solution
While CSA would usually offer a non-contracted player a match fee for playing any games, they now also need to consider compensation if those games fall within the same time frame as a league, where the player could earn more. Short-term contracts are currently being discussed, which would likely make allowances for that gap and remunerate a player enough to choose national duty.
