Rob Walter and Faf du Plessis' games
There are many ways to view the ongoing discussions between Rob Walter and Faf du Plessis. Here is one perspective.
Early in March 2023, Rob Walter and Faf du Plessis met for a smoothie in Cape Town. The meeting laid the groundwork for du Plessis' potential return to international cricket.
du Plessis has always felt that he had unfinished business with the Proteas. He never officially retired from international cricket. When he hung his Test whites, he shared that his focus was on becoming the best T20 player he could be, that way, he would be able to add value to the Proteas in limited-over cricket. It's a Faf thing to say and do. He wants to add value. Besides the idea of adding value, it's also last chance saloon for du Plessis to be in another World Cup.
In 2021, after a failed attempt between him and CSA to bring him back into the fold, he explored ways to improve his game and play so well that CSA could not afford to ignore him.
He met with James Raaff, a DNA/genome analysis and genomics specialist. du Plessis wanted to understand his body better. He walked away from that consultation with a better understanding of what food he should eat, what supplements help improve his physical recovery, how to manage his sleep and rest better, and how he could hydrate better. He consulted and learned more about the mental aspects of batting. du Plessis also added little things to his technique. He had his best IPL season but did not hit the Proteas’ radar. He was hurt.
du Plessis doesn't just want to play in a World Cup, he wants to win one. "The thing now will be to win a World Cup for South Africa. There is nothing greater that any of us wants. That will be the only reason I come back. I want to win something," he told Tinus van Staden in March 2023.
He has backed that up by playing his best IPL season yet. du Plessis has scored the most runs he has ever scored in a single season, scored more 50s and all that at his highest strike rate in the IPL. du Plessis has been one part of seven century stands in IPL 2023, the most by an individual. He shared four century stands with Glenn Maxwell and three with Virat Kohli. No other pair has more than one. It is an understatement to say du Plessis has held together the RCB batting lineup this season.
He simply carried on from his SA20 form. In the inaugural season, du Plessis shared two century stands with Reeza Hendricks, the most by any pair.
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In 1986, a New York University professor named James Carse published a small book titled Finite and Infinite Games. In 2019, Simon Sinek rebooted Carse's work in his book The Infinite Game. The premise for both works is simple: there are two kinds of games that we all play; finite and infinite games. In finite games, there are rules, time horizons, and the goal is to win. Finite games have a beginning, a middle and an end. Faf du Plessis is playing a finite game. He has a specific goal and he is working towards its fulfilment.
Rob Walter, on the other hand, is playing the infinite game. Unlike rigidly structured finite games, in infinite games, there is more ambiguity - the timelines are indefinite or infinite and have broad boundaries. The goal is to keep playing because there is no such thing as winning an infinite game.
On April 26th, Giannis Antetokounmpo gave the sporting world a talking point. A reporter asked if he viewed the just-ended season as a failure after his team, Milwaukee Bucks, had been rinsed by Miami Heat. The Bucks were favourites to win the contest against the eighth-seeded Heat. The loss flushed the Bucks’ title hopes down the drain.
Giannis responded: “Every year you work, you work towards something, towards a goal - which is to get a promotion, to be able to take care of your family, provide a house for them, or take care of your parents. You work towards a goal. It’s not a failure; it’s steps to success. There’s always steps to it. Michael Jordan played 15 years and won six championships. The other nine years were a failure? Every year you don’t get promoted at your job, is that a failure? It’s a wrong question; there’s no failure in sports.”
There is an argument to be made for Giannis' response as a demonstration of a mindset geared towards playing an infinite game. A team's failure to lift a trophy doesn't necessarily mean the season is a failure, not if they have taken lessons from the failures and are willing to build on them. Teams can win basketball matches, but no team can claim to have won basketball.
If there is anything his years of coaching have taught Walter, it is that though one can win cricket matches, one can't win cricket. Cricket is an infinite game that is passed down from one group of players to the next, one generation of players to the next. Today's players are custodians of it at the moment. Their duty is to leave the game in a better place than they found it. That's Walter's goal
When he took over early in the year, Walter understood that he was not going to be judged too harshly if the Proteas did not do well in the upcoming ODI World Cup. He is also aware that he will enjoy some leeway in the T20 World Cup in 2024. He has the space to build a team, a culture and possibly the foundation of a legacy. The focus is on the process and constant improvement that helps reveal new skills and boosts resilience.
However, Walter also understands the role of finite games in infinite games. Yes, losses provide moments of learning, but so do wins. Wins often translate into more wins. In boxing, it is common practice to pit an up-and-coming fighter against a series of lesser opponents during training in order to build up a run of wins. Winning leads to the development of what researchers call 'winning behaviour'.
It is also through winning matches and tournaments that a legacy is built. Victories in finite games are the pillars of a successful infinite game. This is where Faf du Plessis' finite game meets Rob Walter's infinite game, and that's why Walter reached out to du Plessis in March.
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Thanks for reading. Until next time… - CS
