Published: Jan 07, 2015, 09:34 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 07, 2015, 09:34 AM (IST)
Alviro Petersen announced his retirement after South Africa clinched the three-match Test series against West Indies 2-0. In his short international career he did not achieve too much to boast about, but always remained in selectors considerations. Rishad D’Souza looks back at a case of unfulfilled potential.
Alviro Petersen retired on January 6, 2015, immediately after South Africa won their home three-Test series against West Indies. One would think Petersen must have made up his mind about retirement prior to the end of the match. Had he announced his retirement in advance he would perhaps have received the kind of respect they do at the end of a great career.
Maybe Petersen knew that his career did not pass off as great. Maybe he admitted to himself that his career did not warrant that kind off special treatment and attention. What must have pricked him most is that he had the potential for greater numbers but did not do justice. He gave the world an insight into his potential on his very first international innings.
Petersen made his debut for South Africa in 2010 against India at Kolkata. In his first Test innings he scored a century. To put things in perspective, the South African team (consisting of AB de Villiers, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla) scored just 296 runs; it was not a cakewalk for the South Africans on.
His career never really took off. After his debut, match he wore the South African Test cap another 35 times, and managed five more centuries and eight fifties. He was never outstanding but did enough to stay in or around the team during his short six-year international career.
It is interesting to note that while Petersen never really enjoyed a purple patch, he never really went through an extremely bad phase either. That was probably the reason the selectors never completely discarded him and always kept him in the scheme of things despite an ordinary average of 34.88.
In fact, his average is worst among all South African openers to have scored more than a thousand Test runs:
| Player | M | R | HS | Ave | 100s | 50s |
| Bruce Mitchell | 27 | 2390 | 189* | 56.9 | 7 | 12 |
| Eric Rowan | 15 | 1300 | 236 | 50 | 3 | 7 |
| Graeme Smith | 113 | 9018 | 277 | 49.54 | 27 | 36 |
| Herschelle Gibbs | 68 | 5242 | 228 | 47.22 | 14 | 21 |
| Eddie Barlow | 28 | 2290 | 201 | 45.8 | 5 | 14 |
| Jackie McGlew | 31 | 2316 | 255* | 44.53 | 7 | 10 |
| Gary Kirsten | 84 | 5726 | 275 | 41.79 | 14 | 28 |
| Neil McKenzie | 20 | 1279 | 226 | 39.96 | 3 | 3 |
| AB de Villiers | 20 | 1265 | 178 | 36.14 | 3 | 6 |
| Herbie Taylor | 21 | 1228 | 109 | 36.11 | 3 | 7 |
| Tom Goddard | 39 | 2460 | 112 | 35.65 | 1 | 18 |
| Andrew Hudson | 31 | 1855 | 163 | 35 | 4 | 12 |
| Alviro Petersen | 36 | 2077 | 182 | 34.61 | 5 | 8 |
Had Petersen not called curtains on his career at this juncture, he would probably have continued to remain in the Test side for another year; deep down, however, the realisation may have dawned upon him that there were younger, more deserving candidates waiting to represent their country — which is currently ranked No. 1.
Petersen will now take up a full time county contract as a Kolpak player. One can hope he does more justice to his potential away from the pressures of being a constant under-achiever for a top Test side.
(Rishad D’Souza, a reporter with CricketCountry, gave up hopes of playing Test cricket after a poor gully-cricket career. He now reports on the sport. You can follow @RishadDsouza on Twitter)
