The South African National Cricket team will have two separate head coaches for the first time in its history. Shukri Conrad will be the head coach of the Test team, while Rob Walter will be the coach for the Limited Overs teams.
The duo who replaces Mark Boucher will assume their roles from 1st February, with their contracts running for the next four years.
The Proteas now join England as a cricket playing nation with two head coaches for the longer and shorter formats of the game. Seven people were interviewed for the posts from 20 applicants.
Other candidates for the positions were rumoured to be former Proteas interim coach, Malibongwe Maketa, former Proteas assistant coach, Adrian Birrel, and former West Indies director of cricket, Richard Pybus. Proteas legend, Lance Klusener apparently withdrew his application last week.
Rob Walter was the Proteas’ fitness and conditioning coach for six years. He then coached the Titans where he won three trophies in three seasons and was appointed by Cricket South Africa Director of Coaching, Enoch Nkwe.
“The more exposure you get adds to your benefit but it wasn’t only that. Yes he has been involved in our system previously and the good work he has done having won trophies across three formats and also the way he understands where the Proteas are at and most important the playing philosophy and how aligned him and Shuks are,” says Nkwe.
Walter also coached the Titans before moving to New Zealand where he coached the Otago Volts and Central Stags. He also mentored the New Zealand A team.
Walter will not be judged on his performance at this year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup which will be held in India later this year. But Nkwe says his mandate will be to win the 2027 World Cup which will be held in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
“The massive goal for us as a country is to win the 2027 World Cup all the investments. All the energies will be geared towards 2027 we have opportunities along the way to build better systems to give us best chance to win the World Cup and there will be strong performance,” Nkwe adds.
Conrad has coached the Cape Cobras, the Lions locally and, most recently, the men’s Under-19 side. Cricket South Africa CEO, Pholetsi Moseki says the appointment of Conrad shows that they are looking to restore the Test team to its former glory.
“Even when we announced FTP last year we have always emphasized the importance of test cricket. I know we are not playing many test cricket but we have many games over four years. But it shows that we are serious about test cricket and we take the format seriously so we haven’t relegated it to the margins,” says Moseki .
A special arrangement for an interim coach will be made for the upcoming One-Day International series against England that will take place later this month.
Conrad and Walter named as Proteas’ coaches:
