Lance Klusener has withdrew his candidature to be the next white-ball coach in South Africa. Klusener was one of the six applicants questioned by Cricket South Africa three weeks ago, according to ESPNcricinfo, but he decided to withdraw from the process and focus on T20 franchise duties instead.
The SA20 tournament, which begins on Tuesday, is presently being run by Klusener as the head coach of the Durban Super Giants. That leaves Malibongwe Maketa, the current temporary coach, Adrian Birrell, a former national assistant coach, Shukri Conrad, a veteran franchise and under-19 coach, Rob Walter, a former Titans coach, and Richard Pybus, a former director of cricket for the West Indies, as candidates for the position.
With Klusener’s departure, Maketa, who was temporarily given leadership of the Test side for South Africa’s tour of Australia, which finished on Sunday, may now be able to retain the national position. Maketa has applied for both jobs but has said he prefers the red-ball post.
With longtime coach Vincent Barnes planning to retire later this year, the CSA is also searching for a replacement for the job of High Performance Manager. One individual will be in charge of the Test squad and continue to play first-class cricket for South Africa, while the other will be in charge of the ODI and T20I teams.
The latter position was filed for by Klusener, who participated in 179 ODIs and 49 Test matches. Between 1996 and 2004, the former all-rounder, now 51, played a key role for South Africa. During the 1999 World Cup, he nearly led the side to the championship game in one of the best matches ever.
With 3576 runs scored in ODIs at an average of 41.10 and a strike rate of 89.91, Klusener retired with a reputation as one of the game’s hardest hitters. By the middle of January, CSA is likely to make a decision about the new white-ball coach, who will take over for the three ODIs against England later in the month.
With experience working with the Dolphins in local cricket as well as Zimbabwe and Afghanistan in international cricket, Klusener was thought to be the front-runner for the job. Conrad was predicted to lead the Test team.
With Klusener’s departure, Maketa, who was temporarily given leadership of the Test side for South Africa’s tour of Australia, which finished on Sunday, may now be able to retain the national position. Maketa has applied for both jobs but has said he prefers the red-ball post.
With longtime coach Vincent Barnes planning to retire later this year, the CSA is also searching for a replacement for the job of High Performance Manager.