Walter cites need to strike delicate balancing act as reason for Proteas' problems

16 November 2024 - 10:30
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Rob Walter said the Proteas were not good enough against India.
Rob Walter said the Proteas were not good enough against India.
Image: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images

Rob Walter will be scrutinising his own coaching methods as he seeks to ease the strain building on his shoulders and the Proteas after another series defeat, this time to India. 

“I feel the greatest pressure from me as coach, who takes great pride in the job he does, but also for the country and the Proteas and making sure they represent the country well. That is where the pressure comes in, because (Friday) night was not a good example of how we want to play,” said the Proteas’s limited overs coach.

The Proteas have lost three T20 series this year and suffered an ODI series loss to Afghanistan. In 12 T20 matches outside of the World Cup, the Proteas have won just twice.

“Losing a series is not what we want to stamp our name towards. Beginning with me, it's highly disappointing. I want the team to be better and it starts with me being better for the team,” Walter added.

India inflicted a record 135-run loss against the Proteas at the Wanderers, after a dazzling batting display with a brutal opening salvo with the ball, to finish off a series which they dominated. 

They scored more than 200 in each of their three victories, and on Friday, thanks to centuries from the muscular Sanju Samson and the adventurous Tilak Varma, made 283, the most runs South Africa have conceded in a T20 International. 

Fingers naturally were pointed at the bowlers.

South Africa conceded 40 wides, with Walter explaining that an inexperienced attack battled under the pressure exerted by the Indians.     

“If you’re ‘travelling’ the default is to go to the wide line, if you miss, you miss on the outside, it’s a wide and if you miss on the inside you are going to be hit for six. A bowler will always make the error on the outside,” he said.

“In among that are guys who are not fully in control of their bowling action. It's not good enough. But it's not through lack of effort. In a series with such a quick turnaround between games, it's not like you have hours to train, you can’t.

“It's for us to move away and work very hard on our skill set which wasn’t good enough throughout the series.”

Then there is the continuing need to build depth and particularly the pressure to include more black African players after Cricket SA copped criticism from the government and Makhaya Ntini for Kagiso Rabada being the only black African player in this year’s T20 World Cup. 

During the series with India, Andile Simelane made his debut in Durban and played in all four matches. Lutho Sipamla, who wasn’t part of the first two games because of provincial commitments then played the last two. 

Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee — the latter responsible for 18 wides — had to play all four matches as part of building their fitness ahead of a busy season, in which they will also feature in the Test squad

It meant, Ottneil Baartman didn’t bowl a ball, despite being one of the best T20 bowlers in the country and even with two games being played at venues he calls home — Kingsmead, where he plays for the Dolphins and St George’s Park, where he’s been instrumental for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20. 

“We are trying to move our team forward. As I said after the World Cup, everyone needs to play their part in terms of transforming this team and making it more representative. That is part of the journey,” said Walter.

He described a delicate balancing act, in which providing opportunities for new players, while giving time off to someone like Rabada, made his job hard.

“It’s not feasible to pick our best players all the time because there is too much cricket. We have to grow the net of players, we have to play younger guys, and to do so they have to play in big series against good teams. Ultimately that is where they will learn the most.” 

“It’s a balancing act; we are trying to get rest right, rotation right, exposure right all at the same time. It doesn’t excuse the performance and it starts with me as the head coach of the team.”

Walter also pointed out that while India’s ‘fringe’ players had performed superbly, and have put pressure on some of the bigger names who weren’t in the squad for the South African tour, the Proteas had not done the same. 

Only two batters finished with aggregates of more than 100 runs, with Jansen one of those. Skipper Aiden Markram’s wretched run continues, and while his captaincy is unquestionable, the absence of runs, means the ‘protection’ the leadership role provides will disappear quickly, if he doesn’t get it together with the bat in the series with Pakistan next month.

Ryan Rickelton, so destructive at franchise level and domestically for the DP World Lions, might be playing himself out of the team having scored just 55 runs in four innings, while his provincial teammate Reeza Hendricks can’t feel aggrieved if he isn’t picked for the ODIs and T20s against Pakistan after scoring 45 runs in three games.  


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