OPINION: New Proteas coaches have ability to get best out of SA talent

There is a video online of our national broadcaster analysing the appointments of Shukri Conrad and Rob Walter as the new Proteas head coaches for red-ball and white-ball cricket respectively, and the presenter gets both of their names wrong through the programme, an embarrassing lapse but one which perhaps speaks to them not being that well-known among the South African public.

But both are held in high esteem in local cricket circles for their shrewd knowledge of the game.

Conrad and Walter

Walter was a very good club cricketer who became the strength and conditioning coach of the Proteas, while Conrad was restricted to a handful of matches for Western Province B in the early days of unity.

But, by all accounts, he was quite the cricketer in the non-racial game, and as a coach he has worked at most levels of the CSA pipeline and was successful at franchise level with both the Lions and Cobras.

Walter brought the glory days back to the Titans between 2013 and 2016, before leaving for New Zealand, where he has lifted the fortunes of both Otago and, currently, Central Districts.

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While they both believe technique is the foundation of success, they are not obsessed by that or high-tech analysis. Their coaching strengths lie more in the realm of getting between the ears of their players and giving them confidence and the skills to execute their own unique abilities.

The sceptical will say the Proteas need a miracle to return to their world-beating days, but what both Conrad and Walter have shown is an ability to get the best out of talent. And the South African cricket system, while broken in many ways, is still managing to serve up plenty of that.

Inspirational

Walter managed to inspire the talent at the Titans to some record-breaking feats and Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and Theunis de Bruyn all came through under his watch, while he also brought Tabraiz Shamsi in from the wilderness. No franchise team had ever scored 400 in a 50-over match in South Africa, until the Titans did it three times in 2016.

That’s the sort of inspiration the Proteas need in white-ball cricket and Conrad will also be a good man to bring back some toughness and smarter cricket to the Test team.