Proteas fans cannot have their cake and eat it.

Calls for Stubbs to be replaced are very premature and unnecessary.

Even with the constant evolution of cricket, patience remains a massive part of the game. Not only for players but for fans and supporters too. Perhaps not a skill that most South African cricket fans are good at. One thing I have learned about South African cricket fans over the years, is that we lack patience, and we are easily swept off our feet. The scariest part, however, is the fact that we are also too quick to give up on players. 

For years, we had been calling for the selectors to give youngsters a chance. We always lament how the then selectors missed an opportunity to rope in a number of youngsters whilst players like AB and Hashim were still around. This is a valid point, there definitely was a missed opportunity to blood youngsters. However, we are also the first people to call for these very same youngsters’ heads when they struggle. It’s like we are confused as to whether we want to see youngsters come through or not. Maybe the confusion comes from the fact that we expect youngsters to be finished products and that is almost impossible.

Tristan Stubbs, having proven himself in 2/3 seasons of T20 cricket has played just 9 T20i innings. Just 9 innings and people have started calling for his head.  One cannot deny the fact that his recent form or rather his recent performances have not been what most of us wanted them to be, but he is young in age, young in terms of his international career and bats in a position where he often required to come in and tee off from the word go. He has shown that he can do it and he also shown that he has the ability to do what is required of him. He will obviously make that one odd error in judgement. Which 22-year-old doesn’t? This is something that we, South African cricket fans will need to understand if we really want to see youngsters coming through and being given a chance. Picking a youngster comes with the possibility of him making silly mistakes from time to time, it comes with him being possibly found and needing to find a way of out that and it also comes with the possibility of the youngsters still not understanding their own game properly. These are things that come with even picking a not so youngster. Proteas need fans need to understand that they need to choose between having their cake or eating it but not both.

There has been calls to drop Stubbs for Heinrich on social media lately with some not being direct as others. There’s no doubt that Heinrich Klaasen is a quality player but would be harsh to drop Stubbs and not back him throughout. Stubbs, in his 9 innings in t20is has batted in 3 different positions. He has batted twice at 4 and once 5 and in 6 innings at 6, he has a strike of 188. I am not sure how many players in international cricket have such a high strike rate in that position. It is quite clear that Stubbs’ role in the team is more strike rate based than anyone else’s role. His role is basically to come in and look to take the game away from opposition. This is evident even when looking at when he has come in at 4 and 5. It has never been about him looking to bat long.

At 4

He came in against India where SA ended up scoring 227/3, a platform was set so his job was to tee off. He scored 23(18) and the second time he batted at 4 was against Bangladesh where SA scored 205 for 5. Stubbs made 7(7).

At 5

He batted once against England and SA scored 207/3 at Sophia Gardens. Stubbs made 15(12).

Unlike most players who come in at 4 and 5, Stubbs has had to come in look to score quick runs.

There is obvious room for improvement in Stubbs’ games in terms of shot selection and pacing himself properly in order to play to the situation but in the 6 innings he has batted at 6, he has looked to do exactly what he was picked for, take the game away from opponents.

His 6 innings look like this,

72 runs at 257.14

8 runs at 200

24 runs at 218.18

0 runs dismessed first ball

6 runs at 100 and 18 at 100. Bar the two innings where he scored at 100% sr and the one innings where he got out early, Stubbs has been brutal with his batting.

Should Heinrich Klaasen replace?

A few people have continuously been calling for Heinrich Klaasen to replace Stubbs. Picking Klaasen ahead of Stubbs will change the dynamic and the balance of the top 6 because Klaasen is not a number 6. He seldom bats there even for Titans. Whenever he has played, Miller has had to drop down the order. Why drop Miller down the order when you can just pick Stubbs to bat 6?

With that being said, Heinrich Klaasen has done well at 4 and 5 where he has batted the most (13 and 15 time) striking at 150 and 141 respectively however, Aiden Markram and David Miller are doing well at 4 and 5 respectively. The Proteas must keep backing Tristan Stubbs to come good. He is the only player in the side that has looked like they will be successful at coming in at 6 because even David Miller’s best position is 5 in terms of stats.

The calls for Stubbs to be dropped are very premature and worrying. There are people currently pushing for Dewald Brevis’ selection even though a few people think he just might not be ready. What will happen to him if he does not perform for a few matches? Proteas supporters and fans need to learn to practice patience. Disturbing the balance of the top 6 will not help the side win matches. Persisting with Stubbs is also a long term investment for the team.