A team which was always considered the perennial favorites in any ICC tournament, South Africa has not quite managed to live up to the expectations in the global tournaments. Whether it is Herschelle Gibbs’ bizarre catch-drop in the 1999 World Cup, the miscalculation of the score in the 2003 World Cup or AB de Villiers’ missing an easy run-out chance in the 2015 World Cup, the Proteas have managed to find one way or another to get eliminated from the tournaments.
Perhaps they have lacked the mentality of winning the big matches and so it will be incoming head coach Ottis Gibson’s biggest job with the team. Gibson knows what it takes to win a World Cup, having guided West Indies to the World T20 in 2012 and his words will be welcomed by South Africa’s cricket fraternity as he said the Proteas have it in them to win the coveted trophy.
“I’ve learnt a lot over my years as head coach of the West Indies and in my two stints at England,” he told media in his last press conference as England’s bowling coach. “I was chosen as the person to come in and take the team forward, and I’m looking forward to that and getting over there.”
The former West Indies coach, who played domestic cricket in South Africa, has had two spells as England’s bowling coach.
He first joined the three lions in 2007 and remained with them until he took the West Indies job in 2010 before re-joining England in 2015.
Gibson also revealed that the 2019 World Cup had been a significant part of the discussions between himself and Cricket South Africa
“That was a massive part of how Cricket South Africa pitched the job,” he said. “Every team wants to win a global tournament. South Africa has never won one and that’s obviously one of their big things.
“You look at South Africa and the players they can potentially put on the field, and there is no reason why they can’t win the World Cup in 2019. That would be something great for me as a coach and also them as a country. There is a very strong sporting culture in South Africa so to do something like that would be amazing,” he added.
Gibson’s first assignment, meanwhile, will be the full-fledged series against Bangladesh at home. The Asian country will play two Tests, three ODIs and a couple of T20Is from September 28 to October 29.