PROTEAS coach Russell Domingo said on the team’s arrival from the Caribbean on Wednesday that he would not quit the post despite the poor run of results.
SA won two of their six matches in the triseries against the West Indies and Australia. A collapse in the eliminator against the hosts in Bridgetown, Barbados, last Friday sealed their ticket home.
Domingo was due to appear in front of an independent review committee assigned by Cricket SA after the poor Twenty20 World Cup performance but the committee could not get its ducks in a row. A review of the recent performances is still on the cards.
Aside from an early exit at the tournament in India earlier this year, the Proteas lost Test series to England and India last season but won the one-dayer against both teams. The manner of some of the recent defeats — such as Friday’s 100-run loss to the Windies after having them cornered at 24/4 — have left a bitter taste with fans.
"I’ve obviously got to sit down with my management team and board members and plan a way forward," said Domingo.
"I’ve got 10 months left of my contract and although the last six months haven’t gone according to plan, I’m not a guy to give up or quit. I’ve got a few days at home now to just mull over a few things and see where things are going. I feel the management team is the right one. We’ve provided the players with as much support as possible and we are still very motivated to do well. We feel we can take the team forward but the ultimate decision does not lie with us."
Domingo apportioned the bulk of the blame for the triseries exit to the heavy workload carried by some of the key members in the team such as captain AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Morné Morkel and Faf du Plessis.
After spending 72 days on a full-house tour to India last year, the longest in their history, the Proteas faced England at home before taking on Australia in T20 warm-up games and then went to India for the T20 World Cup.
A number of South Africans remained behind for the Indian Premier League (IPL) that followed before rejoining the national team in Guyana in June. Domingo said some players lost their sharpness and edge because of it.
"Player workload is a big concern for me and it is one of those things I need to highlight to my superiors when I do get the chance to chat to them," he said. "Some players stayed behind after the T20 World Cup to play in the IPL, after long tours against India and England, and arrived two days before our first game in Guyana.
"Some are now staying another four weeks in the Caribbean for the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). They’ll rest for two weeks, then play a series against New Zealand and go straight into a tour against Australia after that. When you are playing that amount of cricket for that length of time it’s difficult to maintain standards consistently. The desire and hunger levels when you’re playing day in and day out will wane at some stage.
"You can’t give 100% to 10 different teams over 10 months — something’s got to give. Cricket SA might have to look at binding players contractually to prevent senior players being overused."
Captain De Villiers has in the past been vocal about his taxing schedule, sparking fears that he might relinquish the most demanding format of all: Test cricket.
Domingo assuaged fears that De Villiers, who will play for the Barbados Tridents in the CPL, would not be available for the New Zealand tour to SA in August.
"AB is the captain and his name will be the first one down on the team sheet. We spoke to him two days ago, planning his future. The heavy workload is a concern.
"All the players around the world who play in various tournaments do not play all the formats (for national teams) but our players — Faf, Morné, Hashim, AB and JP — play in all formats and then play in outside leagues as well. But AB should be fit and available for the New Zealand series."
