Kirsten, Simons on five-man panel in hunt for new SA coach

JOHANNESBURG: Cricket South Africa has nominated a five-man panel including two former national coaches, Gary Kirsten and Eric Simons, to recommend a suitable candidate for the position of head coach, which it aims to fill by the beginning of September. Current coach Russell Domingo’s contract expires at the end of the England tour in August and while free to reapply for the post, he has not indicated whether he will put his name in the hat.

If Domingo does apply, he, along with other candidates will be screened by a panel which consists of CSA’s lead independent director Norman Arendse, board member Rihan Richards, transformation and cricket pipeline committee member Oupa Nkagisang and the two former coaches. It is not clear whether the panel will search for suitable candidates or whether applications have been opened, but either way, the panel will have about three months to decide on their recommendation. It will then be up to CSA’s board to ratify that choice.

Domingo has been in charge of South Africa since after the Champions Trophy in mid-2013 and has had his contract renewed three times but cannot be rolled over again in order to meet corporate governance requirements. Domingo enjoys widespread player support and is the only coach to oversee a South African victory in a World-Cup knockout match — the 2015 quarter-final. He has also been in charge through a severe dip in form - when South Africa crashed from No 1 to No 7 on the Test rankings — and a subsequent revival that has seen them climb to No 2.