Former Protea Thandi Tshabalala becomes new head coach for Randburg Cricket Club
The former international off-spinner says he looks forward to taking Randburg to new heights.
Randburg Cricket Club’s (RCC) new head coach is none other than former Proteas spinner, Thandi Tshabalala, who cannot wait for the new season to start.
Tshabalala played four ODIs for South Africa in 2007 but most of his playing success came at franchise level in the 2000s and the ’10s. With 85 first-class, 109 list-A and 53 T20 matches under his belt, Tshabalala has a wealth of experience of what it takes to be a successful cricketer, which he imparts to school cricketers through his academy, TT Centre of Excellence Cricket Academy. He also consults for the Proteas women’s team.
What the stats do not tell you, however, is how friendly and easy-going the man is. Even as he meets players doing pre-season training in the nets for the first time, they all click very quickly.
Randburg Sun sat down with the enigmatic coach to chat about his appointment and vision for RCC.
“My blood is full of passion for this wonderful game,” he smiled. “I am here to assist in every possible way. I am a very dedicated human being and a very dedicated coach. I certainly look forward to working with every one of them and doing the best for the club. Hopefully, we can all work together and get Randburg Cricket Club to a new height.”
He said RCC had been very welcoming and though he is yet to meet all the players, he believes they will achieve success together.
“We’ve got a workshop or two coming up where we will discuss strategies and plans, and also get the buy-in of players in terms of what they want… My role is to help the club and help the individuals understand their games and strategies better and, obviously, to impose discipline, which will take us a long way, together with commitment, togetherness and playing for the team.”
He said a focus for him would be instilling a culture where players put their team first.
The club’s media and communications liaison Bonang Nkiti said they are very excited to have Tshabalala at the helm.
“He has a very special set of skills and has experience at the highest level as both player and coach,” Nkiti said.
“This gives us confidence that he can come in with new ideas that will help our club grow and develop and continue to be a household name in Premier League cricket.”
This comes after Randburg had a difficult season, finishing 10th in the Premier League, failing to reach the knockout stages of the Black Widow T20 tournament and struggling in the 50-over and time-cricket leagues.
“But this period also allowed us to see what some of our youngsters can do by throwing them in the deep end,” Nkiti added.
“This aided the development of some of these player’s growth in the game. We are looking forward to the coming season where we are hopeful of a much improved performance overall.”
Club registrations have opened and the annual Randburg Premier League pre-season tournament will be hosted soon.
The new season kicks off in October.
Also read:
https://sandtonchronicle.co.za/305463/former-protea-to-coach-at-local-cricket-school/
