New Proteas structure grooms a future local black head coach

Proteas head coach Ottis Gibson has paved the way for South Africa to boast its first local black mentor in a few years time after appointing Malibongwe Maketa as his assistant on Thursday.

The move had been predicted given Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) renewed transformation drive the past few seasons.

It completes a meteoric rise for the 37-year-old Maketa, who’s been Warriors head coach since February 2015 and has been praised for his ability to maximise the limited resources at his disposal.

“Malibongwe has done a wonderful job as National Academy and SA ‘A’ Interim Head coach as well as getting the Warriors to two limited overs finals last season without having some of the headline players available to other franchises,” said  CSA acting chief executive Thabang Moroe.

Other notable appointments include former Proteas Dale Benkenstein as batting coach and Justin Ontong as fielding coach.

The arrangement with Benkenstein, who’s a close friend of Gibson after they were teammates at English county Durham, will raise eyebrows.

He keeps his position at Hilton College, where he’s director of cricket, while sharing his time in the national setup.

“I would like to thank Hilton College for their willingness to share Dale’s expertise in a partnership that will be a win-win situation for everybody,” said Moroe.

Ontong’s appointment is intriguing as he’s known for being a good leader and was an outstanding fielder.

Claude Henderson will remain spin bowling coach.

“My first six weeks as head coach gave me a good indication of the areas and resources needed for me to take the team forward,” said Gibson.

“I’m confident with the coaching support staff we have put together and believe we share the same vision and understanding required to achieve success in our environment. The coaches are experienced experts in their respective fields and will add value and energy to an already high-performing environment.”

New Proteas coaching staff:

Head coach: Ottis Gibson

Assistant coach: Malibongwe Maketa

Batting coach: Dale Benkenstein

Fielding coach: Justin Ontong

Spin bowling coach: Claude Henderson

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