More uncertainty for Maketa at Cricket SA

Malibongwe Maketa has once more been cast aside, with his future in Cricket SA’s system again unclear.

Maketa was the Proteas’ interim coach as they suffered a 2-0 Test series defeat in Australia in December and January.

Shukri Conrad was announced full-time Test side coach and Rob Walter the limited overs coach by Cricket SA on Monday.

Maketa was one of seven individuals interviewed for at least one of the Proteas’ coaching positions, got neither and must now meet director of cricket Enoch Nkwe to plot his next move.

“We are drafting a very clear plan for him. I’ll be meeting him this week with Vincent Barnes [the outgoing high performance manager],” Nkwe said.

“We have to be realistic about what the plan is with him for the next few years.

“He brings a lot of value, but how does he fit into the big picture over the next five years?”

Maketa would not be blamed if he lost patience with Cricket SA, such has been the confused manner in which he has been used since he was made Ottis Gibson’s Proteas assistant in 2017.

When Gibson was dismissed after the 2019 World Cup, Maketa was too, before being roped back into Cricket SA’s structures later that year as SA A coach.

The pandemic resulted in that team getting limited opportunities to play.

This has been detrimental to the Proteas, who have been unable to assess players at the A level before they have transitioned into the senior national team.

When Mark Boucher resigned as Proteas coach in September, Cricket SA turned to Maketa to oversee the team for the tour to Australia.

It was not clear whether Maketa would be involved in the upcoming one-day series against England, which Nkwe said would involve a “special arrangement” to oversee the preparation.

Walter will be involved in selection of the squad for that series, but he will not be travelling to SA until late February.

Walter is head coach of New Zealand’s Central Districts team, which sits atop the table in both the domestic white ball competitions in that country and it has been agreed he will return to SA after those two tournaments.

“He’ll have an opportunity to meet the team next month in person and dig deeper into the detail,” Nkwe said.

The Proteas squad for that three-match England series will be named on Wednesday.

If they can win that series and back that up with victories in the two ODIs against the Netherlands at the end of March, they could still qualify automatically for the 2023 World Cup, avoiding the tricky qualification tournament scheduled to take place in Zimbabwe in July.