Published: Aug 10, 2017, 08:50 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 10, 2017, 08:50 PM (IST)
Faf du Plessis, South Africa‘s captain in Tests and T20Is, has confirmed that West Indies’ Ottis Gibson is the preferred candidate to take up the head coach’s job post end of Russell Domingo’s tenure. After returning home from an unsuccessful tour of England, du Plessis shared his thoughts on the West Indian. He stated that he has been discussing the credentials of Gibson with players from other countries. Gibson’s recommendation still needs to be approved by CSA and financial details need to be figured out with both Gibson and ECB, who may demand compensation for releasing their bowling coach.
“I don’t know Ottis. I’ve never worked with him. I actually spoke to a few of the West Indian guys because he coached there. I spoke to the English guys and there were a few different opinions, but the comments were positive. I spoke to Ben Stokes and he said he’s a really good bowling coach, but I’m not sure what he’ll be like as a head coach. Eoin Morgan said he’s good at what he does and that he’s a good guy, and that’s the most important thing”, du Plessis was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
Du Plessis asserted that he would like Domingo to stay on, but the panel seems to be in favour of a new coach. Domingo has served the team for long and du Plessis spoke about the challenges if a new person takes charge: “The team knows Russell well and he’s established good relationships with the players. To lose that won’t be nice. But on the other side, it might be a good time for someone new with some fresh ideas. As long as the person in place is someone who understands South African cricket and understands our culture, it should make it easy to come in”, concluded the 33-year-old in the media interaction post South Africa’s return from England.
South Africa had a tough tour of England. They lost both ODIs and T20I series, 1-2, and conceded the four-Test series 1-3 to hosts. They even failed to enter the knockout stages of Champions Trophy in June.
