When Australia and South Africa last met in my home state, Tasmania, Kyle Abbott was the star and Jackson Bird was left out.
Rod Marsh, the chairman of selectors at the time, said it was because of Bird’s batting. While Bird tried to score more runs – and actually did – it was Joe Mennie who was picked in his place, in the conditions Bird had been recruited by Tasmania to exploit, and learnt how to do well enough to be picked for Australia.
Meanwhile, Abbott had been picked to replace an injured Dale Steyn. Morne Morkel was also an option, but Abbott was the right call. Tasmania was the only place that could be nearly as Trent Bridge as Trent Bridge in Australia.
The difference was a measly 25 runs.
Vernon Philander took the figures that day, with 5-21 off 10.1. Abbott’s 3-41 off 12.4 pales by comparison, yet his greater haul in the second innings started with the same source; Joe Burns.
Burns, who had experienced a horror tour of Sri Lanka, was also on return in Bellerive because of injury, in his case to Shaun Marsh. Abbott cut short any plans of a monster innings to seal his return to the team.
Burns has not played a Test since.
Australia’s Joe Burns (left) with David Warner. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Abbott didn’t have to wait until Mitchell Starc or Josh Hazlewood the second time. Unlike the first innings, a partnership between two actual batsmen developed, as David Warner and Usman Khawaja scored 79 runs and looked capable of taking Australia to stumps only one down.
Abbott then bowled Warner.
Australia made it to the close of Day 3 without further loss. Abbott ruined what chance they had of repeating that feat over the whole of the first session of Day 4, removing Khawaja and Adam Voges.
Khawaja was put on notice by Darren Lehmann. Voges never played another Test.
He and Burns were not the only ones missing in Adelaide. Peter Nevill, Callum Ferguson and Mennie were dropped – even though the next Test was to be played at Mennie’s home town, and he hadn’t really played that badly in his first Test. Lyon, if not for an injury to Steve O’Keefe, would have been dropped.
By contrast, Abbott could not have been dropped even if Steyn had been ready to return.
Australia’s goal was to start returning towards respectability, and they did, winning by seven wickets. More important was how they had to do it: hard.
South Africa replaced Keshav Maharaj with Tabraiz Shamsi, something they never did again, but the quicks were the same, and they were still good. Abbott was again the pick, taking 3-49 off 29 and 1-26 off ten.
Adelaide Oval (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Abbott only played two more Tests, both against Sri Lanka at home.
During the second Test, news broke that Abbott had signed a Kolpak deal with Hampshire. South Africa tried to change his mind, but to no avail. He wanted security for himself and his family, having spent too many years trying to break into the side to believe that he was secure there.
Brexit was coming. Steyn was coming back. Even if he didn’t, Abbott himself could get injured. If that happened, there was no guarantee he would make it back. And you do not get paid as much to play in the Sunfoil Series as the County Championship.
Abbott doesn’t just play four-day cricket for Hampshire. He plays one-day cricket. He plays T20 cricket.
Anyone who thinks he doesn’t have to work as hard as what he used to for his money either doesn’t understand his professional challenges, or doesn’t want to.
As South Africa were losing in Durban, news broke that Abbott had been picked by the Lahore Qalandars to replace Mustafizur Rahman, who was leaving the Pakistan Super League for national duty.
It showed Abbott’s status in the cricket world. He played in the last World T20 and the IPL that followed it, but he is not a great T20 player. He went unsigned in the IPL. He did not play in all matches of his last overseas league, the Bangladesh Premier League, last year.
Abbott is now, for all intents and purposes, an English cricketer who used to play for South Africa, and now supplements his income with stints in overseas leagues. His batting record in first-class cricket contains the type of statistics that lead to vague platitudes, but that doesn’t apply to his T20 record.
He is a bowler and a fielder. He is also naturally behind every local player who directly competes against his skills by default because all these leagues have restrictions on overseas players.
Jackson Bird didn’t play in Durban either. He was injured, but would not have been playing ahead of the trio selected. He is, however, still available for national selection.
He is about to return for Tasmania in front of few spectators, because it is easier for Cricket Australia to suck up the costs of running cricket at a loss than what it is for Cricket South Africa.
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