Kirsten's new approach

For three years as head coach of India, Gary Kirsten barely raised his voice in a team meeting, let alone dispensed harsh words of criticism. It was, he learned, counter-productive. It was not the ‘Indian way’.

Instead, he concentrated on the positive and allowed players who had under-performed or let the team down to address their errors by themselves, or with each other. He pointed out their strengths and made them remember that they were capable of so much better, and more.

He always said that his approach would be different when he took over as head coach of South Africa and that he would “adapt my style to suit different players and a different team.”

If there’s one thing that Kirsten knows about South Africans, it’s that a good old-fashioned bollocking can work wonders. And that’s what he dished out on Thursday evening after the team had thrown away a golden opportunity to bat Australia out of the series by throwing their wickets away and sliding to a miserable 266 all out. He still did not raise his voice, but the words were sharp, incisive – and honest.

At dinner on Thursday evening with older brother Peter, Gary used the word “arrogant” to describe the approach of the middle order. The tourists were a bowler down, spinner Nathan Lyon was under pressure and the pitch was playing as well as any has ever done on the first day. It required determined application to wear the bowlers down, not reckless spanking of boundaries.

Kirsten was back to his calm, imperturbable best by Friday morning and even a woeful bowling display in the morning session did not cause him to lose his cool. He allowed Allan Donald to talk about the technical stuff and then reminded the players that they had a chance to become the first post-isolation team to beat Australia on home soil. And that the chance was slipping away very fast.

The results were there for all to see. Steyn led the fightback with a phenomenal spell of swing bowling, even though he was short of top pace, and the batting of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers contained all the resilience and determination that was lacking first time around.

It is not, never has been and never will be Kirsten’s style to shout and thump tables. He’s far more subtle than that – and besides, it uses up too much energy losing your temper. Paddy Upton’s learning in executive coaching has combined with Kirsten’s playing experience to produce a management team which can bring out the best in a player with nothing much more than a sideways glance.