Cape Town - SuperSport analyst and former Proteas Test batsman HD Ackerman is leaving South Africa with his family to settle in Perth, Australia for what appears to be safety concerns, according to a post on his Facebook account.
This means that yet another local cricket man will be lost to the country. Titans coach Rob Walter is off to New Zealand and the Otago Volts to take up a coaching job from September 1.
That followed Riaan Muller quitting as the SA team's logistics manager to fulfil the same role with the New Zealand national side, and Pete de Wet resigning as chief executive of the Dolphins and the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union to be chief executive of the Central Districts Cricket Association.
According to Ackerman's Facebook page, his decision was taken “with a heavy heart” and had caused “many sleepless nights and even more tears”.
Ackerman will leave with his wife Kerryn and their two children from September, a decision “we have reached as a family and feel it is the best one we can make for our little ones at this time”.
“SA has so much potential,” he wrote on Facebook. “However in my entire life I don't think I have ever seen anything more common than something or someone fails to reach their potential. I fear this may be the case with my beautiful country.
“I truly hope that the decision we are making is the right one for us and I truly hope that South Africa does go on to reach its true potential and that crime decreases, corruption slows (as all countries have this problem) and an equal opportunity is there for all.”
Ackerman played in 220 first-class matches - four of them Tests for Proteas - before joining SuperSport as a commentator and analyst.
African News Agency