Vernon Philander says administrative chaos led to him hanging up his boots

Recently retired Proteas fast bowler Vernon Philander has finally talked about his sudden retirement from international cricket following the conclusion of the Test series against England. He had announced his plans before the start of the series. He stated that the chaotic scene in South Africa’s cricket administration played a role in his decision to retire from international cricket.

Philander further revealed that the controversial call to include him in the playing XI for the 2015 World Cup semi-final clash against New Zealand affected him and Kyle Abbott. Abbott was left out of the playing XI despite being in good wicket-taking form during the mega event.

During an interview with the Afrikaans language newspaper Rapport, Philander said,

“As a player, you get to the point where you’ve had enough,” he said. “CSA’s former management only started looking after themselves, the players were the last ones they worried about. Too many things went wrong in the last while, I had to decide what is the best road ahead for me. Then I decided to retire.

“I am 35 now, with a decent career behind me, but I would have considered playing longer if not for the chaos in our cricket administration.”

Speaking about his inclusion in the 2015 World Cup semi final XI, Philander disclosed that he went up to Russell Domingo, the then South Africa coach, and said that the best player should play referring to Kyle Abbott.

Despite being friends, this particular incident had affected both Philander and Abbott. Reports emerged that only 3 coloured players had been part of the quarter-final match instead of the target of 4 and South Africa and thus Philander was drafted in.

“I blatantly and openly told the coach (Russell Domingo) that the best player should play,” said Philander.

“He told me: ‘You are the best player for the day, you’re playing. But they were clearly not open and honest with me and Kyle. There were definitely things going on behind closed doors. Both of us took a bit of a knock because of what happened there.”

The problems in the administration of Cricket South Africa also led to the ouster of chief executive Thabang Moroe. Philander said that the previous administration was busy looking after themselves and the players preference were least bothered. However he is hopeful of the fact that the new administration with Graeme Smith as the CSA director can bring credibility back.

“As a player, you get to the point where you’ve had enough,” he said. “CSA’s former management only started looking after themselves, the players were the last ones they worried about. Too many things went wrong in the last while, I had to decide what is the best road ahead for me. Then I decided to retire.

“I am 35 now, with a decent career behind me, but I would have considered playing longer if not for the chaos in our cricket administration. The recent changes have brought back credibility now at CSA. Hopefully we’ll see a turnaround in fortunes at administrative level and on the playing field.”

It is certainly hoped that off-field issues do not derail one of the traditional giants of the sport.