Proteas: It’s broken, so fix it, say pundits

Former Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive and convenor of selectors Haroon Lorgat on Tuesday joined the call for the organisation to make permanent appointments in the Proteas management and also settle on the domestic structure as quickly as possible, blaming this uncertainty for the team’s hammering in India.

The Proteas went to India, the most daunting tour of all, with an inexperienced interim head coach in Enoch Nkwe and an interim director of cricket in Corrie van Zyl.

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The recent retirements of Dale Steyn and Hashim Amla meant it was also the most inexperienced SA team for many years.

Added to that are the questions about the strength of domestic cricket, especially in light of CSA’s desire to increase the number of teams at the top level, thereby further diluting the pool.

Lorgat told The Citizen: “The lack of certainty in appointments, having inexperienced people in acting capacities and structures is a grave mistake and the first thing they must fix.

Haroon Lorgat. Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images.

“When you are broken, like we are, you need to bring in new blood, get people in who have done it before, let them come in and help the team and the selectors.

“Former players like Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith, Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes – they can sweep up.

“People with ideas and strength of mind is what is needed, but what CSA don’t seem to want.

“We are walking down the barrel, never mind looking down it, and I don’t see a turnaround any time soon.

“England will more than likely thrash us, too, and then the bottom will fall out.”

Rhodes, who is a highly sought-after coach on the sub-continent, was also critical of the interim appointments and said the Proteas can’t keep saying they are learning.

Jonty Rhodes. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

“I was never part of a team that had interim coaches and I would have hated that. You need a strong back room for the guys to play to their potential.

“There were so many changes in the team and now there’s a whole new management team as well.

“The coaches have to know their roles and the players have to be comfortable with them.

“You need a strong, united dressing room, but how is that going to happen with interim appointments?

“I know vital holes were left in the team and filled by guys who haven’t played Tests in India before, but saying you are learning is the easiest get-out-of-jail card.

“This business of learning lessons has to come to an end. You should be learning in every game.

“And there should not be such a big jump between domestic cricket and the Proteas,” said Rhodes.

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