Cape Town – The future of Cape Cobras coach Paul Adams is hanging by a thread after the Western Cape Cricket executive board convened on Monday evening at Newlands in the aftermath of the side’s disastrous T20 Challenge campaign.
The Cobras failed to reach the playoff stages of the lucrative competition, having won just three out of their 10 league matches, with three matches being washed out. The low point of the campaign was undoubtedly on Sunday at Boland Park in Paarl, though, when a star-studded batting line-up including Proteas stars Hashim Amla and JP Duminy, in addition to West Indies World T20 winner and captain Kieron Pollard, failed to chase down a paltry 140 against the Highveld Lions. Achieving that would have secured qualification for the knockout stages.
The T20 Challenge disappointment compounded an already bitterly disappointing season for the once-proud Western Cape franchise. The season got under way with a group of players lodging a grievance against Adams, which is still continuing in the Council for Commission, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
If that was not enough to deal with, the Cobras are also languishing in last place on the Sunfoil Series log, having suffered four defeats in five starts. The situation is certainly becoming untenable at Newlands, and perhaps now even Adams’s most ardent supporters in Western Cape Cricket chairperson Beresford Williams and his deputy Angelo Carolissen are having to look at the possibility that a change of leadership has to be considered.
“We have a meeting at the conclusion of every competition to discuss what transpired. That is not out of the ordinary,” Cape Cobras chief executive Nabeal Dien told Independent Media. “We are all disappointed with the team’s performance in T20 Challenge competition as we have a proud record in this competition. The coach’s future was discussed but there has been no final decision made as yet.”
Independent Media understands that the Western Cape franchise is loath to dispense with Adams altogether – a decision that only the WCC executive board can implement – and are keen to keep the former Proteas spin bowler in the system.
One of the many suggestions put forward to find a solution to this complex situation is that Adams steps sideways and swops roles with current Western Province semi-pro coach Faiek Davids with the latter taking over at the Cobras until the end of the season.
Davids has travelled with the Cobras on their recent away trips and assisted in home matches and had proved universally popular with all the players, especially the younger ones he’s helped nurture at a lower level. The former WP all-rounder will also have the guidance and playing experience of former Proteas batsman Ashwell Prince – still an integral part of the Cobras coaching staff – to call on.
A decision, though, urgently needs to be made before the Cobras resume their Sunfoil Series campaign and start the One-Day Cup competition in the new year. The Cobras have already sent promising players like four-day captain Omphile Ramela and Proteas spinner Dane Piedt on loan during the T20 Challenge competition and although they are expected to return to their employers in 2017, there is a great likelihood that especially Ramela could remain at the Lions for the duration of the season.
Should this happen, it would be a grave disappointment as Ramela is a talented batsman who is particularly important in the first-class arena where his ability to occupy the crease for lengthy periods of time would be an asset to any team he represents.