Assistant coach Russell Domingo has big shoes to fill when he takes over from Gary Kirsten as Proteas coach after the Champions Trophy in England and Wales.
Kirsten unexpectedly gave notice last week he would not renew his two-year contract that expires in August and would stand down after next month’s tournament .
Cricket South Africa moved swiftly to offer the 38-year-old Domingo the post, some say a seamless move as opposed to the dithering over issues that has plagued SA Cricket off the field of late.
Domingo is also the first person of colour to coach the national cricket team and of course his acceptance of his appointment will be a feather in the cap of the national cricket body’s bid to develop players and coaches of colour.
Kirsten, the man some call the “Mourinho of Cricket” cited family pressures as reason for his rather shock announcement.
Kirsten has had his first lengthy break in many seasons, after stepping into the Proteas coaching breach, following his successful stint with India. He said he had realised how time away from his family had impacted on his young children and that had influenced his decision.
Trusty as people are about Kirsten’s reasons, there is also a rumour mill going around about politics in the highest echelons of SA cricket and the fact that the organisation has been without a CEO for some seven months, as part of the reason.
But be that as it may, it has opened the door for Domingo.
Domingo of course will feel the heat, as Kirsten has left the Proteas still trophy-less in a ODI tournament of substance, particularly the World Cup.
However Domingo said it would be stupid of him not to pick the brain of Kirsten when he assumes the mantle as head coach, and that he would use probably use him (Kirsten) in some consultative capacity for the Proteas.
He also promised to enhance Kirsten’s legacy and structures. The two coaches have an abiding respect for each other.
When Domingo was coaching the Eastern Cape Warriors franchise in South Africa, he (Domingo) employed Kirsten as a batting consultant. Domingo, who coached the Warriors franchise for six seasons, won two major limited overs’ series in one season with the team (T20 and 40-over formats) and coached them to a final in the international T20 Champions League.
Kirsten after his appointment to coach the Proteas, had obviously seen first-hand Domingo’s potential and his first call was to his former “employer” when the vacancy arose.
Domingo, together with Alan Donald (bowling coach) have spent almost two years with Kirsten, and many say that Domingo’s role in the success of the Proteas in recent seasons should not be underestimated.
Described as intelligent, and a man who can rattle off statistics at will, Domingo despite his approachable manner, is no pushover.
His to his former employer at the Warriors franchise, CEO Dave Emslie has said “..he’s strong enough to make decisions. But he also has the ability to work with people. I’m certain he’ll do a great job.”
Of course Domingo will have his detractors, who say he has no experience whatsoever of playing at the highest level or even first-class cricket.
However his CV so far as coach, could not probably go unnoticed.
Domingo has done the hard yards as coach. He started at EP under-19s then followed it up with a coaching job with the SA under-19s.
He also coached EP Academy, EP Amateurs, the Warriors (at franchise level), SA A and SA Emerging squad, before his rise to assistant coach of the national side.
Kirsten said of his successor: “My relationship with Russell has always been a close one. He is passionate and clinical and has done a lot of coaching. I have no doubt he is very capable of doing high-level coaching jobs.”
Russell also indicated that he had spoken to most of the senior players who have given him their support. “There is no way I would take this job without support of the senior players,” he said at a hastily convened press conference.
Domingo, who hails from Port Elizabeth is ecstatic to have the opportunity of proving himself at the highest level, but is acutely aware that despite his progress, things are only going to get harder from hereon in.
The ardent Manchester United supporter quipped after the announcement: “Now I know how David Moyes must be feeling.” And indeed, it will get only tougher as he oversees the No 1 Test playing nation in World Cricket, for the next two years at least.
dadiggle
Guest
Kirsten is going to be with his family. He made enough money not to worry with big jobs. He is going probably sit in a booth commenting on radio or tv like his brother,
I suspect back to what he was doing before Domingo got him in as batting coach at Warriors, local coaching or an academy of sorts.
dadiggle
Guest
I have no problem with the guy. I am just a guy who learns from previous mistakes. It looks like in SA sport they do not do that. I do not care about the results because we have a good team and a good captain which is a good leader. BUT There is always a but. We are sitting with some players who are going to retire while this guy is in charge. When I say some I mean almost half the squad. Almost the same scenario with PDivvy who took a golden generation and have one year that is 2009 to show for it and then left the team with almost no new blood at all and in the process waisted peoples carreer like Jacque Fourie. Then the heading say "coach". He is not a coach. A coach trains athlete in the current sport. What is he going to train them? Sports marketing? No. SO he is a manager. (organizer of affairs of athlete: somebody who organizes and controls the training of an athlete or a sports team) So we are sitting with 2 managers as I can recall a guy called Mohammed Moosajee is the teams manager. So in short we are handing our national treasure who is going into a transitional phase in a couple of years time where new blood would be integrated as the old shift out, and we hand it to a guy who can't even play cricket. He is good buddies with some of the players WOW still don't mean knowing the guys you know their ability. So forgive me for not trusting the guyn or CSA but I have good reason for doing so as we did this before in the rugby and it did not turn out so well did it?
mactheblack
Guest
Yeah I will never forget that moment .. saw it on TV. Iconic indeed. SA must also start thinking on a succession plan for guys like Kallis, Smith whose effect on the team is major. You cannot replace players of their ilk overnight. Just ask Australia. De Villiers' (though few years younger) career will be shortened even further by wicketkeeping duties. Management of players will be important, especially with IPL now on, Champions Trophy and Pakistan in UAE. The big question now: What will Kirsten do now - such knowledge and expertise can't summarily be discarded.
I am also a big Kirsten supporter, I will never forget his last match when he walked of the pitch crying, that shows to me how much SA and cricket means to him, very disappointed that he is leaving, but understand why and we should respect that. As for Domingo, if he can manage the players on an individual basis and keep them happy, keep the politics and board problems away from the players, bring in whichever specialist when it is required and have the support of his senior players he is halfway there already. He has a tough act to follow, but I am sure he has learnt a lot from Kirsten.
mactheblack
Guest
Thanks Biltongbek for giving this guy a chance; and let's see past the colour for once... Kirsten is my no 1 man as a person, cricketer and coach and obviously disappointed he opted to depart, when SA needed him most. Domingo didn't choose himself to the coaching position .. he even made calls to the seniors (cricketers) to ensure he had their support; "otherwise I would never take on this job". Dadiggle, I think you're talking about Cricinfo writer Firdose Moonda - check out her latest article on cricinfo.com on Domingo. I can understand your gripe Dadiggle about Domingo - not playing international cricket etc. etc. But logic I think is, that SA Cricket have invested a lot in this bloke - (I think he's coaching 15 years already, came through all the structures) and it would be shortsighted not to start trying to get a return on that investment. Full marks to SA Cricket for moving so quickly after Kirsten's announcement. Problems still plague SA Cricket though; they are still without a CEO after Jacques Faul left and politics still bedevils the Board. We hope it doesn't distract from the players' and coaches' jobs - and sponsors' influences. Yep, only time will tell whether the appointment was a good one - but let's give him a chance!
Well, let's give him a chance, he has already proven when he was with the Warriors that he has no qualm wih brining in specialists, at least we know his ego won't get In the way. If Kirsten reckons he can do the job then it is good enough for me, by the way, I am so tired of hearing colur every time SA sport is involved. When are we going to move away from that, hell if a guy is qualified and recommended does it matter what colour he is? At the end of the day we want to win, everything else is just semantics.
dadiggle
Guest
I love it how they talk the guy up He did not win 2 major domestic titles. He won a T20 title and a MTN40 title. Moosa over at ESPN "Domingo has built a fortress of admiration at the Warriors, most importantly from his players, through his work ethic and impeccable planning. He gave the franchise a goal, that after three years of him taking over they would win a trophy. They achieved double that and in the 2009-10 season won both the Standard Bank Pro20 and MTN40 titles. "The Warriors went from being no-hopers to winners. We made seven finals in five years. Okay, we didn't win many of them, but we played a lot of consistent limited-overs cricket to get there," Domingo said.: http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/518583.html Went from no hopers? Since when was Eastern Cape cricket the no hopers in SA cricket. They were one of the strongest. Lets see what no hopers he took to win two titles. One a MIckey mouse cup and the other a side show cup Here is the No hopers XI Ashwell Prince Jacques Kallis Colin Ingram Mark Boucher Davey Jacobs Johan Botha, Thyssen, Nicky Boje, Wayne Parnell, J Theron, M Ntini Does that look like no hopers? Seriously. On the same ESPN site written by the same Moosa 3 years ago she wrote this with the following headline Star-studded Warriors start as favourites http://www.espncricinfo.com/rsadomestic-09/content/story/451657.html Graham Ford did at least play cricket. This guy have only a degree in sport marketing. He never played it at all. He took a star studded team and could only win two out of seven finals? That Warriors team with that experience was in self coaching mode just like SA national team is going to be. Just like the Aussie national team was with their Golden generation and then what happened when they had retirements?
Simon
Roar Guru
Thanks for the article. Interesting thoughts about SA's new coach-to-be. He certainly sounds like a good choice to replace Kirsten.
mactheblack
Guest
I know you're coloured ... saw it in an earlier post. I am too by the way. Graham Ford, Mickey Arthur, John Buchanan .. did they play international cricket? Fergie, Mourinho - did they play international soccer. Some people get paid for what they know, not what they did in the past long ago. Dadiggle in case you didn't know today you have courses like sports admin, various coaching level courses and mentors. The possibilities are endless. Ask Russell Domingo. You starting to think like one of us now .. I am trying to say, it doesn't mean that because he is coloured Russell Domingo can't coach. He'll make most esteemed coaches CV's look like nothing. Are you in your post talking perhaps about one PDV - the one who conjured up a rare victory in Dunedin and slayed the Lions at home? Ou Snor did a better than average job. He took da team to the people of SA; more so than we can say of coaches before him ... do you need reminding of Kamp Staldraad? Lighten up boet, you're in Aussie now. By the way I hope Russell recruits Vinny Barnes to help out AD in the bowling department for the Proteas. It's Vinnie anyhow who has made bowlers like Steyn and Morkel what they are today.
dadiggle
Guest
So his appointment is saying a couple of things. The team is coaching basically themselves and we just need someone that the politicians can bend easily and do not have to fight with the team selections. So merit will not be part of the selection criteria
dadiggle
Guest
Negative rants? Maybe I am just a sour k nob who never heard of him. O ja ek is n Australianer wat afrikaans praat en in die Kaapse vlakte bly. Enige iets anders? Don't play the race card with me as I am colored myself but you don't see me coaching the national team. And no I do not care about watching T20 cricket. Not because we are junk at it its jI do not care about schoolyard BS. And looking at the way our T20 teams is going backwards I can tell you know the only thing we will be winning in pajama cricket is more choker tags, I can see with T20 where he is headed with it and how strategic his selection as head coach is. I don't know I feel nervous when we appoint people who never basically played the game internationally or at a proven level before. Lst time we did that it was in the rugby and the players were coaching the team not the coach.
mactheblack
Guest
Dadiggle before you go on one of your negative rants (very little of what SA sport does or achieves, elicits positive response from you), I suggest you Google the name - and check out his profile, since you are not interested in the little bit I could share on Russell in my post. And being a "person of colour" he probably falls under PDI - previously advantaged individual status; that should get the debate going I suppose. Maybe he'll go where no other has gone before and win SA a World Cup ? As a "South African" as you call yourself: Where have you been the last few cricket seasons, mate? In Aussie?
dadiggle
Guest
As a South African I got to ask WTF is Russel Domingo?
mactheblack
Guest
Couldn't have been a no-brainer move, with all the success he's had with SA (Tests of course, beating Australia away and England away) - he's stock has risen even more. Nothing wrong though with a man who places more emphasis on family than success and money. Not sure why you blokes are focusing on the "Mourinho" moniker, rather than the story .. which is Kirsten's rather unexpected announcement, and his successor, one Russell Domingo. I guess though you wouldn't know enough about Domingo just yet, but any thoughts on that?
Shaun
Guest
It's the firs I've heard of that term, so probably something the writer came up with and then said "some call" to lend credibility. Kirsten is anything but Mourinho. He's coached 2 sides, India and SA...left India after winning a world cup for a number or reasons and it was a no brainer move. Move back home to be with family in an environment he knows...India as a non Indian or South Africa as a South African. No doubt he took less money with the SA job too. It was everything opposite to Mourinho, the only thing they have in common is success!
Jaiden Florimo
Roar Rookie
Why do they call him the Mourinho of cricket? Is he also a massive jerk?