AB de Villiers, the eminent South African batting maestro, has unveiled a fascinating revelation regarding the historical partnership of the former Proteas captain Graeme Smith and coach Ray Jennings. This intriguing saga dates back to the early 2000s when Jennings assumed the coaching reins for South Africa during a brief tenure in 2004-05. Concurrently, Smith, displaying remarkable leadership acumen at the tender age of 22, was entrusted with the captaincy, a role he would hold steadfastly for a decade, commencing in 2003.
In a conversation centred around the appointment of Andy Flower as the new head coach for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), De Villiers chose to shed light on the tumultuous relationship between Smith and Jennings. Flower, poised to rejoin forces with former South African skipper and current RCB leader Faf du Plessis, had previously orchestrated their collaboration during their tenure with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL)‘s St Lucia Kings (SLK).
“I saw Andy Flower actually posting about wanting to work with Faf and being very excited to work with him. It’s always a good thing. When the coach and captain work really well together, it feeds off into the team. It’s really important for the players to feel the trust, feel that the captain and the coach are on the same ship, heading in the same direction,” De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
De Villiers states “It was a very interesting dynamic back in the day”
De Villiers, a stalwart of the sport, embarked on a discourse regarding the indispensable harmony between a cricket team’s captain and coach. The 39-year-old proceeded to unveil the inner workings of the strained dynamic that pervaded Smith and Jennings’ association. He disclosed that their rapport was far from amicable. They seldom engaged in conversation, and when they did, it often devolved into disputes. This uneasy dynamic created an ‘interesting’ atmosphere within the South African dressing room during their tenure
“I’ve played in teams before … Ray Jennings, when Graeme Smith used to be captain, the two of them they literally didn’t speak to each other. When they did, they were fighting. It was really interesting. I won’t say it really affected the team. We sort of interacted more with Graeme,” the veteran cricketer added.
“Even though I had enjoyed Ray’s approach of coaching so much, Graeme was part of the boys and in the team. But the two of them didn’t talk, and it was a very interesting dynamic back in the day,” De Villiers concluded.
