As CSA prepare to launch a review into the results of the Proteas, Russell Domingo is adamant that he wants to stay on as coach.
Domingo’s current contract only expires in April 2017 and despite a disappointing campaign in the World T20 tournament, Cricket South Africa CEO Haroon Lorgat said they would not rush into any decision about the future of the national coach.
After arriving in South Africa on Tuesday, Domingo, Lorgat and captain Faf du Plessis held a press conference where a few issues were discussed.
Domingo has overseen his toughest period as coach over the last six months, during which time South Africa lost back-to-back Test series against India and England and with it their No 1 ranking. While results have been better in the shorter formats, including back-to-back ODI series victories over India and England, the performances at the T20 World Cup were a massive disappointment.
Despite mounting criticism from the public, Domingo confirmed his desire to continue as coach.
‘It’s a massive honour and a massive privilege. Everyone wants to do it and it’s a big challenge at the moment,’ Domingo said. ‘We’ve obviously not achieved what we’ve set out to achieve and we have set some goals we want to achieve. It’s a big challenge for me.’
Importantly, Domingo believes he has the backing of the players and the rest of the management staff to be able to continue in the role.
‘I know the players support me, I have got a very good relationship with the players. There are always going to be coaches who lose games at World Cups. The management we have put together is as good as any in the world. I am pretty confident it’s the right management team to take the team forward.’
Domingo also defended bowling coach Charl Langeveldt, who many felt is partly to blame for South Africa’s poor bowling performances at the World Cup. They bowled with poor discipline at the tournament and in the first game against England conceded 20 wides, and 26 extras overall, which ultimately contributed to them being unable to defend a total of 229.
‘If anybody asks you who is one of South Africa’s best ever one-day bowlers you are going to say Charl Langeveldt. He has got the experience as a player and he has up skilled our bowlers remarkably. You can see the improvement in their skills,’ Domingo said.
‘We got it wrong in one or two games at the World Cup but generally our back-up bowling has improved over the last year that he has been in charge. It’s very difficult to point fingers. It’s not something I should be doing. We’ve got to front up and take responsibility. It wasn’t good enough. That comes with pressure. Our disciplines have generally been pretty good. It’s one of those that’s difficult to explain.’
Lorgat said that the annual performance review will be more intricate than usual.
‘With every passing ICC event that we come back from below expectation, the reviews should get tougher,’ he said, but cautioned against rushing to conclusions over Domingo’s future.
‘It goes without saying that we will need to do some sort of review. We will do it objectively, we will do it smartly; not knee-jerk. It’s not emotional stuff. We will do it properly,’ Lorgat said.
‘To pre-empt that [Domingo may under pressure] is premature. He’s got a contract. I don’t think I would want to speculate before getting down to the details. There is no tournament in the offing, our next fixtures are in the middle of this year so there’s no need for a rush into this. Let us settle down and take it with great consideration. We are talking of futures, we are talking about the team and we want to provide the environment as best we can.’
