Cricket South Africa (CSA) has confirmed the appointment of new head coaches for the men’s test and cue ball teams. Shukri Conrad, who has extensive experience in roles within Cricket South Africa, will take charge of the Test squad for the next four years, while Rob Walter will coach the men’s ODI and T20 teams, replacing Mark Boucher in charge. Walter was South Africa’s strength and conditioning coach from 2009-2013 before moving to New Zealand, where he was most recently employed as Central Districts head coach.
His appointment comes days after Lance Klusener publicly withdrew his application for the cue ball job.
Conrad has a wealth of experience in African cricket, having held positions as head coach of Uganda, director of the South African National Academy and head coach of the U19 men’s team.
He also led the U-19s at last year’s ICC U-19 Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 before guiding them to victory at the CSA Provisional T20 Cup in October.
“We will always emphasize the value of Test cricket. We are adding a series of test games over the next four years,” CSA CEO Pholetsi Moseki said of Conrad’s appointment, as quoted by ICC.
“We are serious about being a test nation and we take the format very seriously. We haven’t relegated it to the sidelines because of T20 and we still see ourselves as a very serious test nation. We want to invest in getting our test equipment back to the standards we expect of them.”
“We want to be in the top three (in the world), but we are pushing for No. 1, even if it takes another three or four years to get there. Over the next two years, we will consolidate our position and build a larger player pool,” added CSA Cricket Director Enoch Nkew.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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