The Proteas have a new white-ball coach with Test coach Shukri Conrad getting the nod to lead the One Day International and T20I sides as well. This signals a shift from two coaches at the head of the national coaching set up: across white-ball and red ball-cricket, to one.
Conrad takes over from Rob Walter who stepped down from the position last month, following two years at the helm. Other changes to the system by Cricket South Africa (CSA) include a national convenor of selectors – who is yet to be announced – being appointed again.
Upon Conrad and Walter’s appointments at the start of 2023, CSA did away with a selection panel headed up the convenor of selectors. Instead they left the coaches solely in charge of choosing squads and playing XIs. CSA has now reverted to the previous system.
Enoch Nkwe, CSA director of national teams and high performance, referred to the period without a convenor of selectors as “a trial period” that is now over.
It won’t be Conrad’s first stint leading the national white-ball side, having coached them in a One Day International series against England in 2023 before Walter officially took over.
Conrad’s first assignment will be to take the team to Zimbabwe for a T20 tri-series against the hosts and New Zealand in July.
His main task, however, is leading the side at the 50-over World Cup hosted in South Africa in 2027. His white-ball contract runs until that point.
While Walter’s performances at International Cricket Council events have been exceptional – he reached the final four in three tournaments as well as leading the side to their first World Cup final – the form in bilateral cricket was a concern.
“Rob laid a really good foundation,” Conrad said on Friday.
“He did some wonderful things, you only need to look at the performances at ICC events. I’ll try and build on what [he] has done.”
In the 55 matches Walter led the side – outside of tournaments – the Proteas only won 16.
But that was mainly due to first-choice players being largely unavailable due to commitments in various franchise leagues. Walter’s bilateral cricketing tenure consisted, instead, of mainly building South Africa’s cricketing depth.
It won’t be the same story under Conrad’s tutelage, the new coach promised, emphasising that players need to be available whenever the national team has matches scheduled in order to be selected in various ICC tournament squads.
“This comes with careful planning and buy-in from everyone,” Conrad explained. “Going down this road cleans up everything. It makes it less messy, less conversations and less talk that can be quite polarising in many respects.
“It’s clear in black and white, this is when South Africa plays and I want all my players available to play.
“If you choose not to play for South Africa, well, then we’ll go on that road.”
Conrad explained that he has already been in conversation with several players and they support his plan.
“The all-format players have been spoken to,” he said. “They are fully supportive of what I’m wanting to do.
“We’ll plan their year for them in advance. Their rest periods are going to be suggested and it will be exactly that, it will be a rest period. It won’t be one where you can then go and play another league.
“By the same token, we still want them to go and experience playing in leagues when the Proteas are not playing.
“When South Africa are not playing, guys are going to be free to play wherever they want because we want them to maximise their earning potential as well and come back to South Africa with that cricket knowledge.
“When the Proteas play – I can’t put it more simply than that – all our players must be available for selection.
“If they make themselves unavailable for selection, that’s a decision that they’ve made and a path that they’ve chosen.”