Better bonds between national and provincial coaches should hopefully strengthen Proteas

South African cricket is fortunate in that the relationships between the national coaches and those in the provinces is fairly open and honest. 

It has allowed an understanding between Shukri Conrad and Rob Walter that has provincial coaches supporting the Proteas “pyramid”.

Having that understanding allows players to perform specific roles that will improve them for the national team while not totally compromising the goals that provincial coaches need to attain. “As a domestic coach, my job is to win competitions, but another job is providing players for the national side,” said Russell Domingo, who coaches the DP World Lions. 

“I have to be mindful of the needs of the national coaches and meet those needs as best I can. If it’s unreasonable, we have to talk about it, but there’s been no unreasonable requests.”

Such a healthy environment isn’t easy to build and maintain.

In rugby it exists because coach Rassie Erasmus has created an environment where the Springboks take precedence. On the flipside, Hugo Broos would still like to have a meeting with the 16 PSL coaches — and he’s been Bafana Bafana coach for three years. 

Domingo is uniquely positioned. He was Proteas head coach for five years until 2017, having already done the same job domestically for the Warriors for seven years. He was also Bangladesh’s head coach for three years and it was there he learnt the value of the system of communication between the South African coaches. “In Bangladesh the relationship with domestic coaches is non-existent, they don’t have the system that we’ve got here,” he said. 

That means when the Proteas want players rested or for them to play and perform specific roles — batting higher up the order or bowling a certain number of overs per day — Domingo is more than happy to accommodate those requests. 

The Lions have the most number of players in the Proteas squad, meaning Domingo is often swapping calls and texts with his national counterparts. “I’m mindful and respectful of the national team’s demands, where players need to play games, I will always fulfil that. I’m respectful when it comes to resting players — such as Kagiso Rabada — because I know the demands of international cricket,” he said.

Where it can become challenging is when a host of Proteas players are available, as was the case last season when Reeza Hendricks, Ryan Rickelton, Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen were playing in the provincial T20 Challenge, all vying for top order spots in the Proteas team for the World Cup. 

Domingo struck a compromise with the players about the number of matches they would play but still ended up having to accommodate Bavuma outside the top three, simply because of the balance of the starting team. 

Then there’s Kwena Maphaka and Nqaba Peter, up and coming young stars of whom there are rapidly growing expectations, especially with the 2027 World Cup coming into view. 

Maphaka is preparing to write his matric exams, while Peter, having relocated from his home in East London a year ago, is having to come to terms with being in the spotlight while still learning one of the hardest crafts in the sport. “In the case of Kwena, a big thing for him is workload management,” said Domingo.

“Everybody is going to want to pick him. He’s a young, black fast bowler, a left-armer and everyone wants him. Managing his workload and the accompanying expectations is important. He’s got a lot of cricket to play, hopefully they will be patient with him.”

“He must finish school first, it’s a big stage of his life. Cricket will be there for 10, 15 years. I’m not stressed about picking him. He must finish his exams and come to play cricket with a clear mind.”

Nqaba, 22, is trickier, Domingo admitted. “He’s been so successful in such a short period of time, but the second season is important for him. It could be harder for him this season and managing whatever failures he might have — because he didn’t have many last season — will be important. I’ve told him there will be tough times ahead,” he said. 

“Recently he had an injury, there has to be an element of patience with him. He’s a unique bowler with a difficult set of skills, and he needs to be physically fit and strong to be at the top of his game. He’s got a demanding bowling action.”

Sharing information is, therefore, important. While strategy and style are crucial, so is care for the players. Doing so while needing to meet the demands of provincial administrators, who pay the coaches’ salaries, is challenging. 

“I’ve coached internationally so I respect the needs of the national coaches and I know the domestic coaches are under pressure for their jobs and want the best teams playing all the time,” said Domingo. 

“We are fortunate in this franchise that we have a lot of depth. For me it’s not the end of the world if I need to play a couple of younger players.”