JP Duminy, the Test cricketer- An underutilised talent or an unfulfilled promise?

Nov 5, 2016: JP Duminy smashed his fifth Test hundred and his third against Australia during the first Test of the 2016 South African tour of Australia at Perth. The venue remembers JP Duminy for his skilful 166 in 2008 in just his second Test match, where he famously uplifted South Africa from the brink of a loss to a stunning victory. The innings had prompted Ian Chappell to prematurely compare the spinning all-rounder to Ricky Pointing and Sachin Tendulkar.

He could not be at fault that Duminy scored just 3 more hundreds between then and 2016, when he formed a 250 run stand with Dean Elgar to once again oversee a fantastic victory at Perth. Chappell had placed Duminy on a pedestal at that time hoping he would come close to Tendulkar's Test hundreds list.

This brings us to a big question about JP Duminy and South Africa. Why a talented batsman boasting of an average of above 50 in first-class cricket, with one of the best cover drives in world cricket, has a Test average in the low 30s?

The world beater Duminy

There is something about Duminy that catches the eye of cricket fanatics and batting analysts. When on song, Duminy resembles a flowing stream of water running over a polished tile. You can rarely see it gurgling or changing its path. It keeps flowing.

Duminy is similar. He has one of the best cover drives in the World. The drive is so silken that he leans into it, leaving the viewers wondering if he is showing the ball the path to the fence by walking with it. A newbie into cricket can be forgiven if he thinks that he is watching the best cricketer ever.

The southpaw is a tricky customer. He can cream the toughest of balls through the cover region and flick with so much ease that you are left thinking why Ian Chappell did not bet with someone that Duminy would go on to beat Tendulkar's record.

The flaws that bog him down

He has a glaring weakness against the short ball, identified pretty early in his career, and something which cricket pundits expected him to correct between brunch and lunch on a Sunday afternoon. But he never did.

A tour of the sub-continent revealed that he is perhaps a bit suspect against the off-spinner much like every other left-handed batsman. A few Tests there and the 'bit suspect' portion turned to 'yeah, he is Harbhajan's bunny'. He was expected to correct that too. But he never did.

Then came a phase where Duminy tortured himself to an extent that spectators were shell shocked to see his drives turn into ugly hoicks, his hooks becoming catching practise for deep fine leg fielders and his defence against off-spinners almost always found the edge of his willow.

He was weak, suspect, down and out. South Africa were questioned for persisting with him. They had heap loads of domestic talent. Yet they held on to Duminy through his tough phase. He was seen as a "quota" selection by a vast majority of the Proteas fans.

His bowling that once made South African fans hope that they can walk into a Test with four seamers and a regular spinner without compromising on a batting position, had now become innocuous long hops.

By the time England toured South Africa in 2016, South Africa had enough. Duminy was dropped. He was even dropped from the ODI team, replaced by Chris Morris, who put in terrific performances in both Tests and ODIs during that series. Duminy was forgotten for a month. He even pondered retirement as revealed by then national selector, Ashwell Prince. But the selector inspired him to continue and it brought about a change.

The strong comeback

Duminy milked the Aussies in Perth along with Dean Elgar

Then came New Zealand and AB de Villiers was injured. Duminy has been fortunate right through his career. His entry into Test cricket came at a time Ashwell Prince, South Africa's regular no.6 was injured. Duminy squeezed him out when he returned with some strong performances in his first series in Australia. De Villiers's injury meant Duminy was recalled.

He had scored a double hundred for the Cobras in the SunFoil. He did not do anything miraculous but neither did the doctors to De Villiers. He was still injured when South Africa were touring Australia which meant Duminy was still in.

Perth, the venue of the first Test, was a happy hunting ground for Duminy. So were the opponents Australia, against whom he averaged in excess of 50, with 2 of his four Test hundreds coming against them.

Du Plessis decided to use Duminy as his no.4. A spot occupied by previous South African batsmen of the stature of Graeme Pollock, Jacques Kallis, Daryll Cullinan, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers. Quite a few criticised the move. Duminy had so many weaknesses and little confidence to fulfil the role, they said.

He milked the Aussies in Perth along with Dean Elgar, not resting until his team were right on top despite Dale Steyn walking off the field on Day 1 of the Test. This included a 250 run stand with Dean Elgar that put South Africa in the driving seat in the Test. Duminy had 141 to his name.

Then came the Sri Lankan series at home. Day 1 of the 1st Test at Port Elizabeth saw Duminy at his best. South Africa had slipped to 105/2 after their openers had put on a century stand. Hashim Amla was out of form for some time and looked in similar touch. But Duminy walked in to burst the Sri Lankan bubble.

He raced to 46 off 55 balls with six drives that laced the cover boundary. He had 9 fours in all. He fell for 63 eventually, unwisely trying to take on veteran spinner Rangana Herath only to be struck in front.

This brings us to another vital aspect of Duminy's batting. His trends of dismissal.

The weakness in numbers

The left-arm seamer's ability to bounce Duminy out made him successful against the southpaw

It is fairly common for batsmen to get out caught the most number of times in Tests. This sticks with Duminy as well. But a closer look reveals something else. In his 65 innings career, Duminy has been out caught 29 times and LBW 20 times.

9 of those 20 LBWs have come against right arm spin bowlers. His big stride forward to pace bowlers is pretty helpful in his cover drives but that extra footstep is making him vulnerable against the spinners as he is most often than not too forward to the spinners.

Mode of dismissals

Type of Bowler	Total Dismissals	Bowled	Caught fielder	Caught keeper	Stumped	LBW	Others	Average
Right Pace	21	3	3	10	0	5	0	27.47
Right Spin	19	1	8	1	0	9	0	30.94
Left Pace	12	2	4	2	0	4	0	10.75
Left Spin	4	0	1	0	1	2	0	37.75

In the list of bowlers that have dismissed him the most, Mitchell Johnson stands at no.1 with 7 dismissals in 9 matches. The left-arm seamer's ability to bounce Duminy out made him successful against the southpaw.

But the list also reveals his weakness against off-spinners. In the list fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh positions are occupied by offies - Nathan Lyon, Graeme Swann, Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh respectively. There is one more off-spinner in the top 10 in Moeen Ali.

Out of the 14 dismissals between these five, seven are LBW, a whopping 50%. This once again shows how much Duminy struggles against this category of bowlers.

Most successful bowlers

Bowler	Matches	Dismissals
M Johnson	9	7
P Siddle	10	3
J Anderson	8	3
N Lyon	7	3
G Swann	6	3
R Ashwin	4	3
Harbhajan Singh	2	3
S Broad	9	2
R Herath	4	2
M Ali	2	2

Now we arrive at the final question. Is Duminy at fault for his inconsistency or have South Africa given him fewer chances to prosper?

Batting position and numbers

Duminy averages 41.53 at no.4, much above his career average of 32.62

Under Faf du Plessis, Duminy has been given more responsibility and pushed to no.4, something he was not used to in his Test career thus far. AB de Villiers being injured did help matters, but Du Plessis was expected to slot in behind Amla or at no.3 with Amla pushed one spot down. But it was Duminy who was pushed up the order and he delivered.

His career stats reveal an interesting story. He averages 41.53 at no.4, much above his career average of 32.62. In eight innings at four, Duminy has scored two hundreds and two fifties with a highest of 141. In 2012, he has batted once at four, against New Zealand and scored a hundred. He never ever batted there again until Du Plessis took over.

The batting average drops to 20.66 at number five in three innings, 25.91 at number six in 26 innings and 24 at number seven in 17 innings. It would be pretty easy to conclude that he has played too few innings at five and four to judge his batting average. But there is no doubt that he revels with more responsibility. At six and seven, he is more often than not batting with the tail which curbs his instincts to attack.

Stats by batting position

Position	Matches	Innings	Runs	Average	100s	50s
Career	41	65	1827	32.62	5	8
No.4	8	14	540	41.53	2	2
No.5	2	3	62	20.66	0	0
No.6	20	26	622	25.91	1	4
No.7	16	17	360	24.00	1	2

But it is apt to remember that even when he scored the 141 in Australia from number four in 2016, in the remaining four innings he failed to touch the half-century mark. His highest was 26.

What the future holds

Duminy may need to go back to his number six slot once De Villiers returns. But with Bavuma and De Kock pretty much set in the lower middle order, there may be no place for the southpaw, unless he edges out Bavuma on seniority and bowling skills.

But either way, Duminy is unlikely to benefit from a higher batting position for long. Given that he has enjoyed the additional responsibility, it is a shame that he will not get a longer run at four. His last chance may come in the final Test of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka. Duminy needs to make it count.

His case is more a blend of lack of opportunities at the top and inconsistent string of scores. He has scored when it matters for the team and that should see him being in the setup for a longer time but how longer can South Africa be patient with his inconsistency? Probably not even as long as the New Zealand tour which comes next.

Stats courtesy - cricinfo statsguru