“The team are winning despite him, not because of him.” – an opinion of Hilton Moreeng.
Telford Vice / Cape Town
SUNé Luus, who captained South Africa to the T20 World Cup final in February, is no longer in the position. The vice-captain, Chloe Tryon, is not in the squad. Unhappiness over the re-appointment of Hilton Moreeng as coach is understood to be at the heart of the issue.
On Friday CSA announced a squad to play three matches in each of the white-ball formats against Pakistan in Karachi from September 1 to 14. Luus was selected but not named captain. Tryon, a release said, had “requested a leave of absence” and was not picked.
No captain was named. The decision had been deferred until closer to the tour, “ensuring a seamless transition and continued success for the team”. That seems unlikely given the dressing room is split over Moreeng, who has been South Africa’s coach since December 2012.
Senior players, Cricbuzz has learnt, wrote to CSA expressing dissatisfaction over Moreeng’s coaching philosophy. Although Moreeng is not unpopular at an interpersonal level, several sources have said some of the players feel “the team are winning despite him, not because of him”. His methods are deemed outdated, an opinion supported by the fact that he has been in the job for almost 11 years. During the latter part of his tenure South Africa’s players have been exposed to modern coaching styles in competitions like the Big Bash League and The Hundred.
The complaint reached CSA’s board, which referred it to its cricket committee, which appointed a task team to investigate. It was felt that as the charges against Moreeng were made in a way that did not follow CSA’s established grievance procedures they could not be acted on.
Luus no longer captaining the team is thought to be directly linked to that decision. If she is among the players who have expressed a wish for Moreeng to be removed she could hardly continue in her leadership role. Tryon asking not to be in what looks like an increasingly strained environment is understandable.
Moreeng’s previous contract expired on June 30. That it took CSA until Friday to confirm he would stay on until December 31 would only have inflamed the players’ concerns. Uncertainty fuels unhappiness, a lesson the suits seem determined not to learn.
It is unfortunate that matters have reached this sorry stage considering Luus’ team were the toast of the game in their country not quite six months ago, when — despite being without Lizelle Lee and Dané van Niekerk — they became the first senior South Africa side to reach a World Cup final. Australia beat them by 19 runs, but it seemed they had put the women’s game in their country on its surest footing yet.
CSA now contract 16 players and are set to announce a new professional league, but women’s cricket in South Africa has been impoverished and under-appreciated compared to the men’s game. This year’s T20 World Cup, which was played in front of adoring home crowds, was considered an important step in changing those realities for the better. Now, it feels like a false dawn.
But it cannot be forgotten that Moreeng helped take South Africa to the heights they reached in February, and to the ODI World Cup semifinals in 2017 and 2022. Like his players he had to find ways to win despite scant resources and support for his team. He has been, one administrator said on Friday, “a one-man band” and had “consistently” taken his concerns to CSA about what he and his players needed and lacked.
A dozen of the 15 players who were in the T20 World Cup squad will be on their way to Pakistan in the coming weeks. But, for now, the focus is on the women who won’t be there. And on the man who will.
South Africa squad for Pakistan series: Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Mieke de Ridder, Lara Goodall, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Suné Luus, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nondumiso Shangase, Delmi Tucker, Laura Wolvaardt.
Fixtures (all at the National Stadium in Karachi): T20Is — September 1, 3 and 5. ODIs — September 8, 11 and 14.
Cricbuzz
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