Gibson has a tough task ahead, says Kallis
THE appointment of Ottis Gibson as the Proteas’ new head coach is akin to pressing the refresh button for the national team, says former all-rounder Jacques Kallis, but there are some important decisions awaiting the Barbadian mentor that will immediately indicate the enormity of the challenge that awaits him.
“I’ve heard many good things about ‘Oti’, I’ve never worked under him, but if the England side has employed him then you know there is something special about him,” Kallis said yesterday.
“It’s like a ‘refresh’ button has been hit. I’m excited about the season, I’m sure all the players are. There is no reason why this team can’t achieve the goals they want .... the talent is there it’s a matter of putting it together on the field.”
Gibson, who has already been in touch with the selectors, arrives in the country next week and has demanded all the national team players avail themselves for the opening round of the Sunfoil Series starting Tuesday. The squad for the two Tests against Bangladesh will be picked thereafter. Already there are concerns from the Titans camp about the fitness of Dale Steyn, who appears likely to miss the first round due to his shoulder injury. However Kallis, who as coach of the Cape Town Knight Riders team in the Global League T20 drafted Steyn, says he’s confident the quick bowling ace will soon be back to full fitness.
“Having chosen him I’ve kept a close eye on him...I was under a little bit of pressure from the owners asking ‘are you sure?’
“He’s busy bowling seven overs a day at the moment and doesn’t want to go into a four day game up front. He’s worried about bowling 18 overs in a day – three times six over spells – so I think he just wants to ease into it a little bit more and make sure he’s 100 percent fit,” said Kallis.
While having Steyn back for the Bangladesh series would be beneficial, Gibson’s bigger concerns will be about South Africa’s top order batting, which crumbled against a Gibson-coached England bowling attack recently.
The primary objective will be to find Dean Elgar an opening partner. Even if he was fit it would have been unlikely Heino Kuhn would have gotten the opportunity to continue his Test career after a dismal series in England, where he averaged 14.12. But Kuhn is still sidelined with a knee injury he picked up in the fourth Test in Manchester, and its more than likely Elgar will open with either Stephen Cook, who showed excellent form recently for the SA ‘A’ side in a series against India ‘A’, or Aiden Markram who many believe is a longterm solution at the top of the Proteas Test batting order.
“It was tough at the top of the order in England so to judge a guy only on that is a tough call,” said Kallis. “I’m not one for chopping and changing too much, but the coach may have some fresh ideas, and want some fresh young guys. It’s about what the coach and selectors feel – where do they want to take the team and also the balance of the side.”
Although he acknowledged he wasn’t entirely focussed on the recent series in England, which the Proteas lost 3-1, Kallis believes a lack of cohesion played a significant part in the team’s downfall. “Touring England is not easy. It took us a long time to win a series there. They are a good side especially at home and we are a young-ish sort of side.
“It’s a case of putting the whole package together. From what I hear it was bits of the batting which was good, bits of the bowling were good and it’s a matter of finding a way of combining it, and to stop the big wave of really good play versus really bad. Obviously you want to get your good performances as good as they can be, and then the bad days make it less of a bad day by doing little things better or tweaking a few things.
“That’s how you even out the performance level. You can’t always win but your bad days have to be less bad than they are at the moment.”
Financial institution Momentum yesterday extended its sponsorship with CricketSA through to the end of the 2022 season. The deal covers various junior weeks, the national club championships, the national women’s team, the domestic One-Day Cup and being the title sponsor for ODIs in South Africa.
In addition Momentum also partnered with the Jacques Kallis Foundation to form a Bursary Programme which will allow children from disadvantaged areas the opportunity for an education at one of the country’s top schools. There are currently 26 pupils in the programme while applications for 2019 can be made through Momentum, by visiting their website: momentum. THE HYPE around the South African Women’s team following its magical and unexpected run to the World Cup semifinals in July has put the players firmly in the spotlight and created a new avenue of pressure – expectation.
While internally they had high hopes for the World Cup, the reality from the South African public was that there wasn’t very high expectations of the team. Now however, having made it to the semifinals of that tournament and then getting as close to winning as they did in that match against England, perceptions of the team have changed and they will be more closely scrutinised the next time they take the field.
Skipper Dané van Niekerk said it was a new kind of pressure for the players to deal with but she was happy they had the ability to do so – and as importantly it is what they wanted to deal with.
“I don’t think there’s any bigger pressure than playing a semifinal of a World Cup,” said Van Niekerk yesterday. “Having been in that situation, it also made the girls aware we can cope with it, it was a case of it not being our day on that occasion. We are looking forward. We are excited, there’s a lot of hype around the women’s game – but that’s what we wanted.”
Most of the squad regathered at Cricket SA’s Centre of Excellence for a camp ahead of the new season. Van Niekerk is in the final stages of rehabilitation following a thigh muscle tear, but declared herself ready for her next assignment – a stint in Australia’s Women’s National Cricket League with the ACT Meteors.
“I’m good, just doing some rehab, it’s hard to get the body back where it was,” she quipped.
The remainder of the national side is in fine fettle too. “I wasn’t expecting the girls to look as good as they are, because they really deserved a well deserved rest (after the World Cup).
“We’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs as a team so we are in a good space, individually and professionally. I’m 100 percent confident the team can cope with this (hype) it’s all a learning experience, it’s not something we are used to, we will make mistakes but we carried ourselves really well through the World Cup.”
There’s little competitive cricket for the players for the remainder of the year, with the national side’s next assignment against India in January. A few of the players will be forwarding their names for the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia in December. Van Niekerk and Marizanne Kapp were important members of the Sydney Sixers which won that tournament last season. Mignon du Preez and Lizelle Lee have already been contracted to the Melbourne Stars.