Gibson: Proteas potential World Cup winners

NEW SOUTH African coach Ottis Gibson believes that the Proteas have all the ingredients to be a World Cup winning side in 2019.

Gibson (pictured), who was speaking ahead of the third Test between England and the West Indies in London, is expected in South Africa before the start of the home series against Bangladesh.

“Every team wants to win a global tournament. South Africa has never won one and that’s obviously one of their big things,” he told English media when asked about his future employers.

“You look at South Africa and the players they can potentially put on the field, and there is no reason why they can’t win the World Cup in 2019 (in England and Wales),” he reasoned.

“That would be something great for me as a coach and also them as a country. There is a very strong sporting culture in South Africa, so to do something like that would be amazing,” Gibson explained.

Having previously played in South Africa, Gibson will know only too well how desperately the national team – and its followers – crave a world crown, and that will be the cornerstone of his mission over the next two years.

“That was a massive part of how Cricket South Africa (CSA) pitched the job,” he explained.

The current England bowling coach has been tasked with transforming years of Proteas pain into a title-winning side at the next World Cup, and it is no surprise that his plans around that were a focal point of negotiations before he got the job.

Under Russell Domingo, South Africa fell agonisingly close in 2015, losing to New Zealand in an unforgettable semi-final in Auckland. Since then, they have slipped further down the pecking order, with a dismal 2017 Champions Trophy marking the end of the Domingo era.