Ottis Gibson speaks out on his Proteas gig … finally

Ottis Gibson, the Proteas new head coach, spoke on a public forum for the first time since his appointment on Tuesday.

The former West Indian fast bowler is involved in his last match as England’s bowling coach but was quizzed over his new job already.

Here’s some of the issues he touched on.

How he’ll handle Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) aggressive transformation policies…

Transformation was mentioned and it’s a government policy. There’s nothing I can do about it. I have to work with it. I know what it is so I can’t go in and say I want to change that. I know that it is there and I understand why it is here. Whether I like it or not is irrelevant because it’s there and we have to work with it.

How South African cricket needs to cope with players leaving for the UK on Kolpak contracts…

When you think of South Africa, you think of the sort of immediate stuff of all the players that have left, that are ‘Kolpaking’ and you can’t help but hear the rumours of other people that are considering ‘Kolpaking’. Every player would say he is making a decision for his family. When people say that they don’t think they can get an opportunity and move on there’s not a lot that me as a coach can do and that’s something for CSA to look into. My job is to try and work with the players that are there, try and make sure they are ready to win matches for South Africa so if one person leaves then it gives an opportunity to someone else.

The pressure of delivering a World Cup win with the Proteas in 2019…

Only one team can win the World Cup in 2019 and that’s been a massive part of how CSA pitched the job. Every team wants to win a global tournament, South Africa has never won one and that’s obviously one of their big things. You look at South Africa, you look at the players that they potentially put on the field and there’s no reason why they can’t win the fifty-over World Cup in 2019, here in England. That would be something great for me as a coach but more than that, great for the country. They have a very strong sporting culture in South Africa so to be able to do something like that would be amazing.