Baakier Abrahams new cricket coach
South Western Districts Cricket has appointed Baakier Abrahams as their new coach following the resignation of Andy Moles earlier this month.
Moles, a former national coach of Kenya, New Zealand and Afghanistan, was at the helm since July 2016 but has now accepted the post at the Afghanistan Cricket Board where he will coach the national and u.19 team. The 35-year old Abrahams completed a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Business Management at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in 2008, majoring in Sociology and Business and Strategic Management. He obtained his Cricket South Africa Level 3 coaching certificate in 2010 and was employed at Eastern Province Cricket as an assistant coach to the senior provincial team and academy as well as the Cricket South Africa talent scout for the Talent Acceleration Programme (TAP) in the Warriors region overseeing the age group pipeline from 16 – 19 years.
He was also the head coach at the NMMU Madibaz Cricket Club between 2012 and 2016 and head coach of the SA Tertiary team in 2014 and 2015. "One of my personal highlights was my ability to inherit an existing winning team and culture at NMMU and continue that winning culture as evident by the number of trophies won during my career," said Abrahams.
He will take office on 1 October.
"We are delighted to welcome Baakier Abrahams as part of the SWD Cricket family and are looking forward to his positive contribution as coach of our flagship team," said SWD President, Rudy Claassen. SWD, who produced a much improved performance during the pool stages of the African T20 Cup, will play their first provincial fixture of the season on 2 November when they take on Eastern Province at the Recreation Ground in Oudtshoorn in the Sunfoil Cup Three-day competition.