Vernon Philander’s Test career ended on the lowest of lows against England at the Wanderers on Monday.
On a personal level, the Protea was fined during the fourth Test for vloeking after dismissing Joss Butler in the first innings and also suffered a hamstring injury during the encounter.
On top of this, the team once again failed to deliver a decent performance and lost their third match in a row to go down 3-1 in the series.
True to their miserable form, it was the Proteas’ batting line-up that flopped, getting only 275 in their pursuit of 466 for the win.
A hartseer Philander, who bagged 224 wickets in 64 Tests for SA, says: “It’s not the way I wanted [my career] to end... England played phenomenal cricket over the last month or so.”
DESERVED MORE: South African captain Faf du Plessis says Vernon Philander deserved more. Picture: IANS
Captain Faf du Plessis admits that the 34-year-old Philander deserved a hero’s send-off and not the one they gave him.
Du Plessis says: “We [as a team] want to thank Vern for his services to Proteas.
“He was a tremendous achiever - a champ on and off the field and the team is going to miss him.
“I am sad that this match is not the fairytale ending he deserves. If you play for South Africa for 10 years plus, a lot of effort and time goes into that and we are very thankful for the efforts.”
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/ProteaFire?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ProteaFirechampion as he rode into the sunset. #ThankYouBigVern pic.twitter.com/ECQMOzQ8r8
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA)
South Africa and England now shift their attention to the three-match ODI series which starts at Newlands on February 4.