Cricket South Africa (CSA) director of national teams Enoch Nkwe says he never had doubts about the leadership of Proteas captain Temba Bavuma, despite recent criticism and failures.
Bavuma led the Proteas to a historic first ICC trophy when they outclassed Australia in the World Test Championship last weekend at Lord’s Cricket Ground in England.
Bavuma was instrumental when he inspired his side to a five-wicket victory with his majestic half-century — a feat that he achieved playing most parts of the game with a hamstring injury.
Praise for players, support staff
Nkwe said during a press conference at the CSA headquarters in Melrose, Johannesburg, on Wednesday, that the success of the Proteas under Bavuma’s leadership will positively impact the future of cricket in the country.
“I would like to most importantly give thanks to the players and the support staff, which was well led by Temba,” Nkwe said.
“I have known Temba for some time now, and I have never had any doubt in his leadership. And in that process, I also worked with coach Shukri [Conrad], in whose leadership I also had no doubt.
“So, I am just happy for them to have led us to this point. I don’t want to get emotional, but this is huge for South African cricket and the impact it will have for generations to come.”
Test cricket prioritised
Nkwe also explained what the turning point was for CSA, which had previously faced troubles, and how it contributed immensely to the current success.
He said: “We have taken a lot of punches, but one thing we have never broken our backs on was staying strong and believing in what we can achieve as a cricketing ecosystem.
“But there is a whole lot being thrown into our cricketing strategy. We spoke about the five-year cricket strategy for 2027, and when we sat down with Coach Shukri two years ago to plan the way forward, we did discuss how we would go about it and prioritise the different formats.”
He continued: “But at the core of it, we all agreed that Test cricket is prioritised and has all our best players, and that we are consistent in it, as we believe it is our number one format.
“So, we want to celebrate and enjoy what we have achieved, and we will have to go back to the drawing board to restrategise to see what it looks like in the next two-and-a-half years.”
