Johannesburg, Feb 23 (IANS) Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Thursday announced that former men’s batter and CSA High-Performance batting lead, Neil McKenzie will serve as a batting consultant for the two Tests against the West Indies while adding that a permanent batting coach will be named at a later stage.
McKenzie will work under new head coach Shukri Conrad, while the series against West Indies will be Charl Langeveldt’s last assignment with South Africa as their bowling coach before the newly-appointed Piet Botha takes up the role.
Botha, who made 118 first-class appearances during his playing career, boasts 20 years of coaching experience across the South African cricket landscape, having previously coached the Warriors, and most recently Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers. His credentials also include being a bowling consultant to the National Academy and South Africa A side.
CSA also announced the appointment of former New Zealand Test wicket-keeper and Momentum Proteas fielding coach, Kruger van Wyk as the full-time Men’s Test fielding coach.
“We would like to thank Neil for committing himself to the series while the permanent appointment is being finalised. He and Shukri have a good working relationship, having previously coached together at the SA Under-19 level, and we look forward to them combining for the first series in what is a new era for the Test side.”
“Credit must be given to Charl and the role he has played in developing the Test bowling unit. Under his tutelage, the Proteas attack has become one of the best in the world. As he ends his tenure with the Proteas, we would like to wish him all the best in his next chapter.”
“We would also like to thank former batting coach Justin Sammons and fielding coach Justin Ontong for their contributions to the national team over the last couple of years,” said Enoch Nkwe, Director of Cricket.
Matthew Reuben and Sizwe Hadebe join the technical staff from the Titans side as the respective performance analyst and physiotherapists, while Runeshan Moodley makes the step up from the Warriors to the national side as the strength and conditioning coach.
“I am pleased to have Piet join the support staff. He has extensive coaching experience and has guided several promising players through the domestic pathway to higher honours. Having personally experienced what he has to offer as a coach during his time at the National Academy, I am looking forward to the opportunity of working closely with him at this level.”
“Kruger has vast experience having worked across the South African cricket pipeline from club cricket to the national women’s team, and I am excited for him to bring this expertise to the men’s Test environment, along with the newly-appointed technical staff in Matthew, Sizwe and Runeshan,” added Conrad.
South Africa had a change in leadership of the Test team with Temba Bavuma replacing Dean Elgar as the captain. The first game against West Indies will be played in Centurion from February 28-March 4, before the teams travel to Johannesburg for the second Test to be held from March 8-12.
–IANS
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