The right man to steer the Proteas

CSA will be delighted that they got their man. It was a good effort by them to get Gary Kirsten to agree to the terms and conditions and take the Proteas forward over the next few years.

I have a feeling that ever since Mickey Arthur vacated the coaching role the intention was to get Gary to take on the position once his tenure with India finished. It is a good thing as well that Kirsten is taking full responsibility for the team. The idea of splitting the coaching role and fragmenting the job was never a good one in the current enviroment where stable, strong leadership is needed.

Kirsten took over the Indian coaching job when the Indian board ended Greg Chappell's tenure as coach early. Chappell was a strong personality and took some bold decisions that Indian cricket benefitted from under Gary Kirsten's reign. Chappell, however, fell out with some of the icon players and once that situation became untenable he could no longer stay on in the coaching job. India looked for someone with a good work ethic and a softer approach.

Gary Kirsten fitted the bill. Kirsten assessed the situation regarding the Indian team very quickly and very well. He worked out that the senior players needed some leeway and he was happy to give them that. The fact that he got on so well with Sachin Tendulkar was a major catalyst for his success.

It took him a while to find his feet with MS Dhoni but the two of them found common ground and team India functioned as well as anyone could have hoped for during Kirsten's tenure. He took on an unsettled team in India and created a positive peaceful enviroment.

The South African situation is also a restless one at the moment and hopefully Kirsten can create the same stable situation here that he did in India. The challenge for Kirsten will be to assess the South African situation equally quickly in order to come up with a formula that will bring out the best in the individual players and the team collectively.

Although he knows South African cricket well he only knows some of the South African players as opponents. He may find that perceptions about players differ vastly when he works with them as part of his team. His method may well be vastly different from his approach with India.

The Proteas are in a transition phase. For starters, Kirsten will work with different captains. There is no MS Dhoni in the group at the moment who leads in all versions of the game and has won just about everything. Dhoni has had a magnificent run of late as captain, and naturally that makes the life of the coach easier when he knows he has an established leader who runs matters successfully on the field.

Chances are that initially Kirsten will have to be a lot more hands on. This will apply particularly to the one-day and T20 arenas where AB de Villiers will be learning the ropes as an international captain. De Villiers is an experienced international player but new to captaincy, and together with Kirsten will have to find his exact leadership style.

On the test front he will have Graeme Smith to contend with who has his own particular style of leadership. Smith has worked with many coaches and he is set in his ways. One of the first things that Kirsten will have to do is work on Smith's batting. This may be a good way of establishing a relationship and mutual respect. If Kirsten is able to help Smith rediscover his form it could go a long way towards creating mutual respect, which is crucial in the professional environment.

The other interesting thing is the appointment of Allan Donald as bowling coach. I am pleased for my old mate that he is able to make a contribution to South African cricket in his area of expertise. He is very passionate about the Proteas. He has wanted to fill this role for some time but for one reason or another it has never really worked out.

It is important from Donald's point of view that he really gets his teeth into the position. He had a number of coaching positions over the last few years for short periods of time. He had the position of bowling coach for England, the Free State amateur coaching position, the Warwickshire assistant coaching job, the Mountaineers head coach in Zimbawe and recently the New Zealand bowling coaching job.

The Kiwis were clearly very happy with him. They offered him a two-year stint as bowling coach and he would have accepted this position if the South African job didn't come up at the last minute. He will have picked up a lot of coaching experience on his travels, but now he needs to settle down into this job and do it for a few years in order to get the results required.

The Proteas are in safe hands with Kirsten and Donald at the helm. I am sure they will get all the support they need from CSA.

The challenges they face will be tough and varied but both have been around the block enough as players and also as international coaches to make a success of a difficult job.

Doing anything at top level is never easy and nor should it be. For both Donald and Kirsten their respective challenges will be no different. It will have its ups and downs. Let's wish them both all the best for a successful tenure.