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Deon Botes - coach of AB de Villiers and FAF du Plessis in Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Image: Cricketnext)
CricketNext caught up with Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool cricket coach Deon Botes to find out how he tackled such situations. And the little devils (with hearts of gold Botes reiterates) in question? None other than current South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis and the man the cricketing world calls Mr. 360 -- AB de Villiers. Flooded with media requests whenever teams come to play in South Africa, chatting with cricket writers isn’t something new for Botes. But it is the nostalgia that shows in the sparkle of his eyes when he sits down to speak about his wards is what makes the interaction heart-felt and special.
Pitch at Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Image: Cricketnext)While de Villiers has time and again returned to the school – to even support the school rugby team – du Plessis has not returned to school since he passed out. But every time Botes walks onto the cricket ground. The story of the Proteas skipper breaking into his hostel room comes back in a flash. So what prompted du Plessis to break his rooms window?
“One fine day, Faf comes up to me and says that he cannot come for training because his kit bag was in his room and he couldn’t find the key. Being the naughty boy that he was, I was sure he didn’t feel like training. So I told him that he had to come for training and I didn’t care how. So, as expected, I see Faf right there with the rest of the boys. After training, I walk up to him and ask him how he got the keys to which he said he didn’t. So, I enquired about the kit bag and he said he broke in through the window. I was like but Faf you cannot do that and he is like, ‘But sir, you only said I had to be at the ground at any cost.’ Now what can you say to this? It shows that he was just as serious about the game as he was a rule-breaker,” the coach smiles.
The de Villiers story is more than just a prank. Considered to be one of the more disciplined sportspersons in the world, Abraham Benjamin de Villiers was supposedly not always the good boy. As a kid, he had been expelled from the boarding for trying to woo a girl in the girl’s school down the street. Botes has a hearty laugh as he goes into flashback mode.
“A new trend had started where the kids would speak to one another on radio. So now, AB was trying to talk to one of the students in the girl’s school down the road and as luck would have it, one of the parents was walking down from that place at the same time and the matter was immediately brought up and AB had to be expelled for this,” he revealed.
Interestingly, unlike schools back in India where kids like to start wearing full pants to believe they are big boys, here in Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool, even the older boys like wearing half pants to school. The neatly ironed shirts and the well-polished shoes show that they like to be well groomed.
(Image: Cricketnext)But du Plessis, currently considered one of South Africa’s most well-dressed man in the team, hated wearing his shoes. “He would be sitting in the classroom without shoes. Why? He felt hot wearing shoes. Now what could be a possible comeback to that,” asks Botes with a wry smile.
Talking about two of the world’s finest cricketers and not revealing their biggest secrets on the pitch would be unfair on their fans. So on being nudged a little, Botes ends the conversation with two revelations that not even the most ardent fans of de Villiers and du Plessis would know.
“When Faf came into the school team, he was a leg-spinner who also batted. We really thought we would see him bowl more often, but as he rose up the ranks, batting became a priority. As for AB, he was a wicket-keeper who batted at number 8 to start with. It was much later that he started batting up the order.
“Also, AB thinks I liked Faf more, but that wasn’t the case. I love both of them. What AB doesn’t realise is that whenever I would need a player to save a game, I would call for Faf because AB with his flamboyant batting would give me a heart-attack,” he signed off.
AB de VilliersAfrikaanse Hoër SeunskoolCricket South AfricaDeon BotesFaf du PlessisSouth Africa vs India 2018South African Cricket Team
First Published: January 20, 2018, 8:38 AM IST