Philander: ‘Close friend’ AB surprised me too

Vernon Philander admits he was also taken aback by AB de Villiers’ decision to quit international cricket earlier this year.

The decision initially sent shock waves through the local and world cricket community, especially after De Villiers had played a key role in the Proteas’ Test series wins over India and Australia.

“I was a bit surprised to be honest with you,” Philander told Sport24.

“But AB had played a lot of cricket. He spoke to me during the Australia series and he said he has a young family and was considering calling it quits.”

Yet when the stocky seamer had heard of his teammate’s plan, the move started to make more sense for him.

“With the amount of cricket he was playing and all the pressure on him, I think he just thought the time was right to call it a day internationally, with all upcoming fixtures for South Africa. He probably got to a stage where it was either going to be family or cricket, and he chose the former,” said Philander.

“You have got to give it to the guy – he served his country with immense pride and you couldn’t ask anything more of him. There is a time in all of our careers when enough is enough.”

For now, Philander doesn’t have any plans to follow suit.

He is, however, sidelined until at least November with an ankle injury that’s being treated conservatively.

His Test record of 205 wickets from 55 matches at an average of just over 21 is exemplary but the 33-year-old has made peace with the fact that he might not be a strike bowler anymore – especially with Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi around.

“For me, having played so much cricket I have a good understanding of what to do out in the middle. When the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi play, I adjust my role slightly,” said Philander.

“I’m not going to go and try and be greedy – my aim is to keep it tight in order to allow them to strike and give them the freedom to bowl the way they want.”

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