Cricket South Africa’s inability to bring about the structural transformation of Proteas team management is not a good look, but the task of appointing a willing and able Director of Cricket is a stiff one.
CSA have moved to explain the seemingly endless delays to a process that was begun after the Cricket World Cup when the last head coach Ottis Gibson did not have his contract renewed.
The beleaguered administrators have had as a trying a year as the Proteas players, and know they need to get the public and the press on board with the appointment.
The list of names that would achieve that is very short, the job will demand knowledge of every aspect of South African cricket. A Director of Cricket is not a coach but rather a manager with far-reaching oversight.
As things stand, Enoch Nkwe is the Interim Team Director while the man temporarily appointed to the Director of Cricket role was Corrie van Zyl until CSA suspended him along with two other high-ranking officials in a matter unrelated to that role.
At the time of writing CSA claimed to be very close to appointing someone who the country would get behind.
There was speculation that Gary Kirsten might take up the role, but the Durban Heat coach has squashed those rumours making it clear he was not interested in the job.
South Africa’s most successful Test skipper Graeme Smith made it public that he was interested in the job but soon afterwards declared that he pulled out after what he described as a frustrating negotiation process.
While Mark Boucher might be a candidate for the Team Director role he is unlikely to be sought as DOC. Any future involvement of Boucher at a national level would require that he either seek to extend his coaching qualifications or for CSA to relax their requirements.
Former national selector Husain Manack is understood to be seeking the position. Though generally well-liked he isn’t likely to enjoy immediate unanimous public support.
Dave Nosworthy stands out as one of the only known candidates with experience fulfilling a DOC role albeit at a county level with Somerset. Nosworthy has coached in New Zealand as well as South Africa but with CSA desperate to win back the public faith those credentials might not be enough.
The DOC will ultimately decide the future of the Team Director role which Nkwe currently occupies and will set the course for the Proteas and cricket in South Africa.
This is the biggest appointment in South African cricket history and it needs to be the right one but CSA might be looking for a messiah not a Director of Cricket.
Written by James Richardson for Hollywoodbets.
