Proteas Women should have a new coach in place for England series

Cricket South Africa director of national teams and high performance Enoch Nkwe’s bid to unveil the next Proteas Women’s coach has hit a road bump after interim coach Dillon du Preez ruled himself out of contention.

Du Preez, who is the team’s full-time bowling coach, performed the stand-in role admirably since being elevated after long-serving head coach Hilton Moreeng’s departure to the US in June.

The former Free State all-rounder has since followed in Moreeng’s footsteps by guiding the Proteas Women to the T20 World Cup final in the UAE recently.

However, the 42-year-old feels that he is able to serve the national team best in his role as bowling coach.

“He (Du Preez) enjoys working with the bowlers, and assisting the head coach. Obviously that didn’t help, but he is fully committed to moving forward with the team and supporting whoever comes in,” Nkwe exclusively told Independent Newspapers.

Nkwe has since reopened the recruitment process, and has now streamlined it to three candidates, who will be interviewed over the course of next week.

Former Proteas spin bowler and Cape Cobras coach Paul Adams is, however, also not in contention, despite proving to be a hugely popular addition to the team’s support staff at the T20 World Cup.

Adams is currently Cricket SA’s spin bowling lead and assisted the Proteas in the UAE.

However, ‘Gogga’ proved to be much more than just a spin-bowling coach, as his motivational talks in the huddle before each match proved to be hugely inspirational.

“Of course Paul is our spin lead, who works with all our national teams. He is loving working with the spinners. I haven’t seen that level of passion in a long time,” Nkwe said.

“Obviously being a head coach before, from a strategic point of view, he does add plenty of value. But Paul is happy in the space that he is in at the moment.”

The Proteas’ next assignment will be hosting England in an all-format tour that starts at the end of the month.

Three T20Is will kick-start the tour, before moving into three ODIs and a one-off Test.

Nkwe is hoping to name the new head coach by the time the ODI series begins, at least.

“That’s what we are pushing for. Especially the ODI series, not necessarily the T20I series, because whoever the person is going to take over, the person is going to be buying into our blueprint and our strategy from a Proteas level down to our domestic (cricket),” he said.

“We are looking for someone that can fit into the South African cricket system moving forward. I am not too concerned about whether the person starts with the T20Is or the ODI series.

“The strategy is there for ‘Road to World Cup 2025’. It is just a matter of tweaking a few things. The biggest thing for me is finding the right fit to take this team forward and aligning with our strategies.”

Nkwe also stressed about wanting to bring stability to the Proteas Women team, especially with the ICC Women’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) being released this week that will see South Africa host a series of high-profile fixtures against top-tier opponents including India, Australia, Pakistan and the West Indies.

The South Africans will also embark on challenging tours to England, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

“It is great for women’s cricket in general. We will continue to look for more opportunities to increase the women’s content,” Nkwe said.

“It is great that there is a four-year commitment. It does play a role in a situation where you are appointing your coach for a period of time. I would like to see a lot more stability when it comes to the women’s team.

“Whoever is going to take over, it’s great that you can now plan for the next four years.

“At least, the technical team you saw in Dubai, they have all been appointed on three-year contracts.”