Amla quits as captain, wants to focus on batting

CAPE TOWN, January 6
Hashim Amla said on Wednesday he was stepping aside as South Africa’s cricket Test captain with immediate effect, a day after a double century rescued his country from possible defeat in the second Test against England.
The 32-year-old made the surprise announcement just minutes after the Test at Newlands ended in a draw and after Amla had led a fight back to haul his team from a precarious position.
AB de Villiers will take over as captain for the last two Tests against England.
“Naturally this decision is not an easy one but the more I think about it the more I believe I can be of greater value to the Proteas as a fully focused batsman and senior player at this time or rebuilding our team,” he said.
“I am deeply grateful and privileged to have been the Test captain and I wish to thank Cricket South Africa for the honour of captaining my country. It was enjoyable and indeed a great learning experience. I kind of felt someone else could do a better job. I made my decision two weeks before the first Test against England,” Amla added.
The Durban-born batsman, who made his debut against India in 2004, is a veteran of 90 Tests and has scored over 7,000 runs in the longest format of the sport.
“We respect Hashim’s decision and the manner in which he thought about it and then communicated with me,” Cricket South Africa chief executive officer Haroon Lorgat said. “He still has a huge role to play in shaping the success of our team without the need for a leadership title. He is just that type of a person and we are very fortunate to have him in our stable.”
England hold on for draw as weather has final say
Poor weather brought a limp end to a compelling second Test as England survived a final day onslaught from South Africa to draw the match and keep up their 1-0 lead in the series.
England were 159 for six in their second innings, with Jonny Bairstow (30) and Moeen Ali (10) unbeaten, before drizzle and bad light halted play soon after tea on Wednesday.
South Africa’s quick bowlers made inroads in the morning to offer the likelihood of a remarkable come-from-behind victory after England had dominated the opening two days to amass 629 for six declared in their first innings.
South Africa clawed back over the next two days, keeping England in the field on hot, energy-sapping days as they slowly regained a foothold and eventually declared just two runs short of the visitors’ total. — Reuters
Brief scores: England: 629/6 dec & 159/6 (Bairstow 30*; Piedt 3/38); South Africa: 627/7 dec.