Former rugby captain to be part of SA review

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s World Cup-winning rugby captain Francois Pienaar has been appointed to a Cricket South Africa (CSA) four-person panel to conduct an independent review of all national teams.

Pienaar, whose team won the trophy in 1995, will be joined by former Test batsman Adam Bacher, chairperson of CSA’s HR committee, Dawn Mokhobo, and sports physiologist Dr Ross Tucker. There is no deadline for the committee to reveal their findings.

Under particular scrutiny will be the post of Russell Domingo, South Africa’s national coach, who faced a volley of questions over his future when the team exited the World T20 in the first round. On their return, CSA CEO Haroon Lorgat said the organisation intended to undertake a review, as it does every year, before making any decisions.

However, Lorgat emphasised that “with every passing ICC event that we come back from below expectation, the reviews should get tougher,” and the unveiling of the new panel is proof of that.

But the review will not focus solely on one man. It will examine both the men’s and women’s teams and Under-19 side, who all struggled in a summer of discontent for South African cricket.