Zaahier Adams
FORMER Proteas swing-bowler Charl Langeveldt is expected to be in pole position to succeed Allan Donald as South Africa’s next bowling coach.
Donald, the Proteas fast bowling legend who claimed 602 international wickets during a stellar 11-year career, yesterday stepped down from the coaching role he occupied for the past four years.
Langeveldt was recently exposed to the Proteas team environment as a “death bowling” consultant during the recent home summer series against the West Indies and also during South Africa’s World Cup campaign in Australasia last month.
Although the Proteas ultimately exited the World Cup at the semi-final stage when the World’s No 1 fast bowler Dale Steyn failed to defend 12 runs in the final over against New Zealand in a frenetic semi-final at Eden Park in Auckland, the ultimate result cannot be laid at Langeveldt’s door.
In fact, the former swing-bowler, who was a renowned death bowler during his hey-day and also previously the only South African to claim a One-Day International hat trick before JP Duminy’s heroics in the World Cup quarter-final against Sri Lanka, was lauded by the bowling unit for the expert technical advice he brought to the team environment.
Langeveldt was particularly “hands-on” with beanpole fast bowler Morné Morkel between matches at the World Cup. Morkel, particularly, enjoyed the “middle sessions” Langeveldt had put together at training when the opportunity arose for bowling outside the nets.
The attention to detail was particularly significant as Morkel worked extensively on hitting “target areas” and also replicating pressure match situations by bowling to Proteas ODI captain AB de Villiers, largely due to the skipper’s unique ability to clear the boundary almost at will during the closing overs.
This extra work, which was usually performed after regular training sessions had been completed, paid dividends as Morkel was South Africa’s leading fast bowler at the World Cup with 17 scalps and was rewarded by being included in the “World Cup XI”. This was in contrast to Steyn, who endured an off-colour tournament.
Cricket South Africa are expected to undergo an interview process but at this stage Langeveldt is the frontrunner to take over an attack that Donald hailed the “best in the world” upon his departure.
Donald also regarded the four years he spent with the Proteas as the “best four years of my life”, especially due to South Africa’s ascent to the World No 1 Test ranking during this period.
“I have had some time to reflect after the World Cup and have come to the conclusion that the time is right to move on,” the 48-year-old said. “It was always a big dream of mine to work in the South African cricket environment after my playing days and I was incredibly honoured to be given the opportunity. The last four years have been the best of my life and being involved with the Proteas in the 2015 Cricket World Cup was a goal I had set my sights on.
Proteas head coach Russell Domingo thanked Donald for his role in tutoring the bowling unit, saying he was “a professional with great insight and knowledge of the game.”
However, Domingo will now look to Donald’s successor, who is most likely to be 40-year-old Langeveldt, to mentor a fresh crop of fast bowlers that include the likes of Wayne Parnell, Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada and Marchant de Lange as South Africa look to find suitable replacements for the stalwarts such as Morkel, Steyn and Vernon Philander moving forward.