Cricket South Africa’s decision to replace former white-ball coach Rob Walter with Shukri Conrad is great news for South African cricket. Proteas fans should breathe a collective sigh of relief and applaud the decision for a number of reasons. Here’s why.
There are a lot of very good coaches available and many who aren’t officially available, who would still have jumped at the chance to coach South Africa if approached. Current Afghanistan mentor Jonathan Trott was one name that was mentioned who could have been a great pick.
Conrad’s cricket culture
But Conrad is right up there in terms of his coaching and management ability. One needs only look at what he has done with the Proteas Test team to see the results of his good work. Next month the Proteas will tackle Australia in the final of the World Test Championship.
The Proteas finished the latest cycle at the top of the table, ahead of powerhouse teams such as England, India and Australia, and while they have not won the WTC trophy yet, simply qualifying for the final should be seen as a major success.
The big three of England, India and Australia have huge resources available to them in terms of broadcast and sponsorship revenues. For smaller teams like South Africa (or in the last cycle, New Zealand) to compete at the top of the table is a genuine achievement.
To compete where they are in the Test arena the Proteas have had to ensure that every iota of talent available is harnessed and maximised. And that is the coach’s job. Within the Test team Conrad created an environment where the players knew what was expected of them, where they were happy and where they were prepped and primed to perform at their very best.
Gary Kirsten comparison
At the top level a coach needs to be technically proficient. But he is not teaching the players as much as he is nurturing them. At the very top, the players know what they are doing.
When Gary Kirsten took over as Indian coach many years ago, he surprised many by making net sessions voluntary. His philosophy was that players such as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid and the likes knew what they were doing. They didn’t need to be treated like children and made to do things they didn’t feel were necessary.
He built an environment in which those elite players could prosper and where they could enjoy their cricket, and that is what Conrad has done for the Proteas Test team.
Shukri Conrad.
Uniformity and cohesion
It goes without saying that there are big differences between the white-ball and the red-ball game. That was a big part of the philosophy that underpinned the decision to have separate coaches for the two disciplines. It worked to a degree for sure.
But let’s be honest about it, there are a lot more similarities between red-ball and white-ball cricket than there are differences. Yes, some of the players are different and some of the tactics differ, but at the end of the day all forms of the game are about trying to take as many wickets as possible and scoring more runs than your opposition.
For cricket in South Africa to thrive it needs one road map. Conrad can’t coach every team from age group levels and women’s cricket, but he can sit at the helm of the elite men’s game and manage his resources properly.
What Walter was not
With one coach for all the Proteas teams, Conrad can now decide who gets rested when. He can work continuously with his chosen players to help them improve their games – he no longer needs to wait for limited windows of opportunity.
Walter got some excellent results for South Africa in ICC events (although still not a title win), but the action in between those key World Cup events was underwhelming. He was blooding youngsters, creating depth in the international talent pool or whatever else he called it.
With one coach managing all teams it’s a safe bet to say that there will be improvements in ODI and T20I results beyond the marquee ICC events.
Here’s wishing Conrad all the best, let’s hope he can get the best out of all of his players, across all the formats, there’s no reason to believe that he won’t.
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