As it is with the Boks, so let it be with the limping Proteas
Are there any more Rassies out there? Cricket is in desperate need of its own Rassie Erasmus. The glorious success of the Springboks has cast a glaring spotlight on cricket’s shortcomings and apparent inability to start changing its fortunes.
It is fair to say the Boks had reached an equivalent low to the current Proteas on the field when Rassie took over.
And there were administration issues too, though not nearly as serious as cricket’s at the moment.
Erasmus was given an unprecedented six-year contract to turn things around on the field and start winning again. It’s also fair to remind people that, initially, performances and results took an even further dive before they started to improve.
As director of rugby, Erasmus knew and understood that the player wage bill needed to come down drastically, with resources concentrated on quality rather than quantity. He was virtually given carte blanche to make substantial changes to infrastructure and attitude, and he did so.
He persuaded the old-school board of directors that it made the no sense country to’ostracise s best players some of simply because they had opted to play overseas. His clarity of vision was unwavering and he did not allow himself to become distracted by boardroom squabbling and provincial bias.
The initial credit for his appointment lies with SA Rugby Union (Saru) CEO Jurie Roux, who understood the degree of change that was necessary and knew that Rassie was the right man to implement it. He travelled three times to Ireland, where Erasmus had just signed a long-term contract as Munster’s director of rugby, to persuade him to return home.
There are some significant differences between the two sports, the most notable being that cricket can’t make use of those players working in England on Kolpak contracts. But there are far more similarities, and cricket can learn from the transformation of rugby.
First and foremost, naturally, is the appointment of a director of cricket. If he also needs to take charge of the Proteas for a while, as Rassie did with the Boks, fair enough.
Once he is appointed he should be allowed to select the best, or most appropriate, specialist coaches available.
There is no way of measuring “best” when it comes to coaches (team results can be misleading), but the head coach must be allowed to build his own team.
Erasmus could have been accused of favouritism and even cronyism by appointing old friends Jacques Nienaber (defence), Matthew Proudfoot (forwards) and Munster colleague Felix Jones (attack consultant). But along with skills coach Mzwandile Stick, it made for a rock-solid team which Erasmus could trust every step of the way.
Another similarity between the sports is the endless production line of talent. SA produces more potential firstclass cricketers than any other country bar India, and the numbers are increasing with even greater opportunities. But something is going wrong.
The director of cricket must identify and rectify it. Gerald Majola may have left Cricket SA under a cloud after the Indian Premier League (IPL) bonus scandal, but he was the best CEO the game has had in this country, primarily because he cared deeply about cricket and prioritised the importance of the national team.
“You can change things at any other level,” he used to tell politicians and administrators, “but do not touch the Proteas because they pay all of our salaries.”
Majola was never too proud to delegate or take advice, but the most significant legacy of his tenure was an increase in Cricket SA’s bottom line of about R300m. How? Because the Proteas won far more than they lost and became the No 1 Test team in the world. They were exciting and vibrant and sponsors wanted to be associated with them.
Maybe he just got lucky with the quality of players, but that’s not how Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn remember it.
I was one of many observers to heavily criticise Majola for not properly declaring the generous “tip” from a grateful Indian Premier League after moving here at short notice, but there were just as many in the game who asked for leniency and insisted that we did not understand how much good he did for the game. It seems they were right. Rassie Erasmus has set the bar unfairly high for cricket’s chosen man to emulate, but the sooner he gets started the more chance he will have to turn things around.
Majola and Smith had an excellent relationship as CEO and captain. Right now they sound like a dream team as CEO and director of cricket.
“Rassie has made a massive difference, not just to the Springbok team, but [to] a lot of decisions that have influenced the whole nation. ”— Bok hooker Bongi Mbonambi.