Cricket South Africa
Twitter is abuzz with comment, a lot of it derogatory, after Cricket South Africa on Monday announced Shukri Conrad and Rob Walter as coaches of the Protea's test and limited overs teams respectively.
Some of the sentiment to the announcement on CSA's official twitter handle was that 'they may as well have handed the job to anyone' and that a specialist batting coach was the most lacking appointment at the moment. A number of respondents also called for the appointment of new white ball and red ball cricket captains, and a new convenor of selectors.
"Never accept a caretaker role if you have aspirations of applying for the job - Nkwe and Maketa learnt the hard way," tweeted another cricket follower in reference to Enoch Nkwe and Malibongwe Maketa, who both had interim roles as head coach in the past.
55-year-old Conrad previously served as head coach of the South African Academy, the SA under-19 team, the Cape Cobras and the Lions.
The Proteas are coming off heavy Test series losses away to England and Australia and next play a two-Test series against the West Indies at the end of February.
CSA director of cricket Enoch Nkwe said Walter's first task would be to ensure South Africa qualify for this year's World Cup in India.
Walter was the Protea's strength and conditioning coach between 2009 and 2013 before becoming head coach of the Titans franchise.
He guided them to three titles in three seasons before moving to New Zealand in 2016 where he coached Otago and more recently Central Districts.
Both coaches only start their jobs in February -– which means Walter will only take charge after South Africa play England in three one-day internationals later this month.
