My first experience with AB de Villiers was at the Titans in 2005, I had seen this prodigious talent given his head by the South African selectors as a nineteen year old.
It was a brave selection and one which has been borne out by his outstanding progress.
I had just taken over at the Titans and AB was an international by then, but still making his way, not fully established in the South African cricket side.
It didn’t take long to see the immense talent AB de Villiers has for cricket, and sport in general.
Even when when the guys would play warm up games before training and matches, there was fantastic skills across the range of games we would play.
More than that though, there was an intense competitive spirit and steely, sharp focus.
AB could shift from being quiet and relaxed and then have the uncanny ability to be able to switch on and get into his performance state almost instantly.
AB de Villiers comes from a small town 150 kms from Pretoria, its claim to fame other than the hot springs for which it is famous in the region, is that it has two Protea cricketers from such a small town.
Martin van Jaarsfeld is the other Protea and is a cricketing icon in the region, being a mainstay of the Nashua Titans for many years.
The families know each other and it is not a stretch to imagine that Martin was a reference point for the young AB de Villiers.
He was schooled at one of South Africa’s most famous schools, Affies as it is known, is the Afrikaans High School in Pretoria.
Famous for producing Springbok Rugby players, it now has a growing list of Proteas coming from the school, Jacque Rudolph is another.
One of the things that helped nurture AB de Villiers prodigious sports gifts is that the average South African child is exposed to lots of different sports, across a range of disciplines.
They learn how to move, run, jump, throw and dive at an early age, partly due to the excellent climate where they can play outdoors all year round.
Other sports that are on offer are golf, tennis, hockey, rugby, soccer, squash and swimming.
The children learn such an array of skills that the sportsmen and women who come through the system are inevitably well equipped.
The provincial sports system is also very competitive, the players who make it through most often have excellent mental skills and are well conditioned.
AB de Villiers was not only an excellent cricketer from an early age, playing junior provincial cricket through the age groups, but was also excellent at rugby, golf and tennis.
All of this is reflected in his all round play, the best point fielder in the world, quick across the ground, great catching skills and a strong, accurate throwing arm make him the complete fielder.
He is also an excellent wicketkeeper, he is now South African cricket’s ODI and 20/20 wicket keeper now that the gloves have been passed over from Mark Boucher.
AB de Villiers: Mental Game
As a coach I am always looking for fast learners, they grow their game, they are receptive, the team prospers and they do well.
Slow learners take up your energy as a coach, whilst the rest of the team are moving ahead, they are holding you back.
AB de Villiers is a fast learner, very fast.
He has the ability to take in information and process it very quickly, when we were doing match analysis he was perceptive and thoughtful, not only of our game plan but also of how we were going to decode and disrupt our opponents game.
He has a simple match plan for himself and it is real old school stuff.
He takes time to play himself in, in doing this he is connecting his brain with the ball.
Rod Laver the great Australian tennis player said that ‘you should glue your mind to the ball’, this is exactly what AB does.
It is so simple that many players think they should be doing something flashy at the beginning of their innings.
Not AB de Villiers.
He stays with his method, rarely getting ahead of himself, his game plan is orthodox and he holds his focus within it.
His stroke selection is tight, disciplined and specific to the context of the game.
His energy management within his innings is excellent, players who develop the ability to bat long innings need this.
AB’s game has moved on in the last couple of years, if you are reading this in 2015, this is written in 2010, last season for South Africa he was their best batter, averaging in the 60’s throughout the calendar year.
There is much of Jacques Kallis in de Villiers, many of the above the above comments could as easily be applied to Kallis.
This is no accident, de Villiers has been mentored by Kallis and Mark Boucher since coming into the South African cricket team and it is apparent in his method.
He is laid back and relaxed off the field, if one thing stands out, he has a deep confidence in his ability, trusting his skills immensely.
This trust allows the brain to shift from the left to right hemisphere as the batter waits for the delivery. This handing over allows the batter to get into their motor skills for batting.
AB de Villiers: Batting Technique
AB de Villiers has a wonderfully simple batting technique, he uses the stance which Sachin Tendulkar used to use, with the bat half up in its batswing.
Head still, as the bowler approaches he is very still, he uses the Kallis double trigger movement just prior to the ball release by the bowler.
For the young players reading this, a trigger movement is a body movement that initiates the stroke, many batters use a small foot movement to start the body movement into the stroke.
Although many of the great players like Tendulkar have stood still, so it isn’t anything to be concerned about. If in doubt, stand still !
The back foot moves back and across and the front foot opens up.
I am not a fan of this, preferring the simplicity of the Tendulkar standing still stance or Ponting’s tap and release backlift, as a trigger.
Double movement triggers have too many things to go wrong for my liking, yet de Villiers has managed to use it to great effect.
He is watchful of it, he watches the timing of his triggers on the video analysis programme to make sure he holds position and get his timing right.
Like most South African players he is equally well balanced on front and back foot, he loves the cut and square drive, perhaps with a tendency to look for his favourite square cut at times.
He is though, superb through the leg side and on the pick up pull against the quicks.
AB moves his hands back into a classic batswing, short and powerful, not overswinging the bat, nor overstriding when moving into his stroke.
He also has a good range against spin, he sweeps, reverse sweeps, comes down the track and hits inside out against the spinners.
Technically he has the scope to play in all conditions.
AB de Villiers: Strength and Conditioning
AB is the full package across his game, technically and mentally.
To carry this forward, his fitness and conditioning need to be of the highest order and they are.
He, like all the internationals today have specific routines they follow relative to their needs and the training cycle they are in.
All the young Titans players were well conditioned by Rob Walter, the strength coach, who is now with the South African cricket side.
So AB looks after his strength, speed and endurance when in the gym.
Conscious to maintain a good base level of fitness.
One area where AB has been different to many other young players, is that in the off season or in breaks in the playing schedule he has never gone to England.
He would rather rest and re-charge his batteries.
This, I think has brought a freshness to his play.
Long may it continue …. and long may we be inspired by AB and his brand of brilliance.
AB de Villiers to Cricket Players
AB de Villiers: Man on a Mission
What Other Visitors Have Said
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page…
AB de Villiers: Coming Of Age
I remember AB de Villiers in the Perth test match (Australia vs South Africa) in 2008 where AB caught my imagination, not only by his solid batting technique …
About Richard Pybus
I'm Richard Pybus, I've coached Pakistan, Bangladesh, Middlesex, Titans and the Cape Cobras in South Africa and the goal of this site is to help you to play winning cricket.