68: Hashim Amla

124 matches. 9282 runs @ 46.64. 28 hundreds. Highest score: 311*

16 years. 4x good. 2x excellent. 2x outstanding.

The discussion

During our 2021 lockdown in New Zealand I’ve been lucky enough to have a beach close by, where my wife and I could take our children for regular walks.[1] Never missing a teachable moment, we often stop to explore the aquatic life in the rock pools the sea stars, the nudibranchs — and the crabs — and admire the geographical features: the sedimentary layers of the sandstone cliffs, the rivulets in the rocks at sea level where water has eroded sections of the sea floor to expose channels and mini cave systems at low tide, and where the overflow from waterfalls cascades down the cliffs to form pools at the bottom. Life thrives in these places if you’re patient enough to sit and watch (our six-year-old). Adventures abound for intrepid explorers, both among the rocks and exploring the water’s edge looking for fish (our eight-year-old). While watching the falling water carve a pool into a rock below, while the children played, with Cat Stevens’ ‘Where do the Children Play’ forming an endearing but predictably cliched earworm deep inside my brain, this scene suddenly got me thinking of Hashim Amla.

I realised that Amla epitomised the analogy of water falling on a rock — consistent pressure wears down what at first seems to be an impregnable surface. His patience wore down the opposition bowlers, while his runs steadily accumulated, akin to the droplets of water falling from the top of a cave on a stalagmite; slowly building, one drop at a time, to a towering 9282 Test runs at an average of 46.64. His 28 Test hundreds are gems among the limestone, accumulated over 48 Test series for South Africa.

Interestingly enough, the team brought up a great point about Amla’s strike rate on the pod. It’s much better than I gave it credit for. Amla struck at better than 90 in ODIs, and better than 130 in T20Is. In Tests, Amla had a better career strike rate than noted dashers like Nathan Astle, Dean Jones, Gordon Greenidge, and Doug Walters. Those drops of water falling on the rock fell more frequently than I gave him credit for.

What to make of those 48 Test series? Contrary to the eye test, the numbers tell more of a rocks and diamonds story. On one hand, in 20 of those series Amla averaged 50 or better. In nine of them, his average surpassed 75, including four series with an average above 100.[2]  On the other hand, he also had 20 series where he averaged under 35. So, on only eight occasions did Amla average between 35 and 50. That seems incongruous with my recollection of his batting. Looking at his career overall, however, suggests a more consistent player — there were some poor years (2015 and 2018/19, at the end of his career), but there are four years averaging over 55 for the calendar year, and two years (2010 and 2012) where Amla averaged over 70. The sum total is that the counting stats are excellent, in particular in both total runs and hundreds, where he sits in the top 15 all-time.

Did he make his teammates better, or did he benefit from great players around him? The fact that Amla was at one time ranked the best batter in the world suggests that whatever impact his teammates had on his success, he earned the accolades by pushing his game as far as it could go. Amla formed a formidable combination with Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis in particular during a golden age for South African cricket, where the team also ascended to the number one Test ranking. Because he wasn’t a demonstrative character on the field, sometimes it’s hard from the outside to assess whether people like Amla had an impact on their team. But surely his ability to remain unflustered against a number of quality bowling attacks (some who liked a word or two) and his ice-cool demeanour had a calming effect on teammates. Those teammates had the assurance that with Smith at the top, followed by Amla and Kallis in the middle order, that the batting was in safe hands. Here, I am reminded of an analogy of a swan[3] — graceful, serene, gliding almost frictionless along the lake. Watchers are struck not by the brilliance of the colour of its feathers, but by the way the swan carries itself, with dignity and grace, a study of almost effortless motion. So too Hashim Amla.

The verdict

There are many different types of people. There are those that seem to attract attention and fanfare wherever they go. They’re often described as ‘larger than life’; people gravitate to them, either because they are agreeable and likeable people that others are drawn to follow (Oprah), or they are disagreeable to the point where people are similarly drawn to their magnetic personalities, even if only to disagree or criticise (Piers Morgan, Jeremy Clarkson).

Others go through life with an unassuming character. They get up, go to work, do their job well and go home to their loved ones (or their cat) at the end of the day without any fuss. Hashim Amla gives me the impression that he was one of those people as a cricketer. Even when he was captain of the Proteas at Test level, it felt like he was more of a ‘do as I do’ type of leader, rather than ‘do as I say’.

The statistical case for Amla is similar to many other modern players in this list — 15 years of cricket at the highest level, with three to five standout series or years (four in Amla’s case, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014) and an impressive number of career runs, fifties and hundreds. These are the categories where Amla excelled. Longevity counts for something; it shows that in the white-hot intensity of Test cricket, over a long period of time, this player had the skill, the mettle, and the fitness and durability to succeed. That in itself is an achievement worthy of celebration, and the 9000 Test runs with 28 hundreds are a measure of Amla’s greatness.

Many wouldn’t have Hashim Amla on their list of 100 greatest players. Larger characters with brash personalities are more likely to be remembered, for better or worse, because they stick more easily in the mind, and recalling a player easily to one’s memory is often associated with greatness. Even on the podcast, we on the panel talk about ‘who will I remember in 30 years between Player X and Player Y’, and that too is a very fair point. There is room for both types of player in the Hall of Fame.

Hashim Amla is the perfect case for an unassuming, dignified but quiet character. In 30 years’ time, he might be less easily recalled than someone like Kevin Pietersen, Virat Kohli or David Warner, but that shouldn’t diminish his achievements. We should remember a career of someone who scored over 9,000 Test runs, five Bradman series (averaging over 99) and at one stage was the number-one batter in world cricket.

In one word

Unflappable

Notes

[1] I might point out here that in New Zealand’s August 2021 lockdown, households are allowed out into the community for ‘exercise in their local area’. We all wear masks while outside of the house, adhere to social distancing, and ‘keep it local’ i.e. within walking distance. If you’re reading this article in 2050 this will either be a massive shock, or come as no surprise at all. I hope, for your sake, that having ‘allowed daily exercise’ seems a restriction that is almost unfathomable. If it is, good for you.

[2] South Africa only played 6 four-Test series in Amla’s career. The vast majority of his Tests were part of three- or two-Test series. Amla also played 4 one-off Tests. No wonder he played 48 Test series.

[3] My on-air description of peacocks, doves and pigeons during the discussion of Hashim Amla, where I suggested he was a ‘serene and graceful but not dazzlingly beautiful’ player, was heading in this direction, but never quite got there. The analogy arrived off the cuff, so I hope I’ve now managed to do it some justice.

Bio

Record

Source: ESPN CricInfo

career peak

Source: ESPN CricInfo