NEIL MANTHORP: Wanting the leadership job is not the same as needing it

The history of coaches in sport suggests that those who don’t need the job are usually the longest serving and most successful.

Hard decisions are easier to make, risks can be taken without overthinking the consequences, and there is less concern for the sensibilities and egos of players.      

Much the same argument can be made for captains and other leaders in sport. Caring about the team, being motivated to win and wanting the responsibility of management and leadership is nothing like needing it. Job protection is a notorious killer of flair and spontaneity. Captains and coaches who need their jobs are invariably prone to “playing it safe”.   

Financial security is the obvious reason for coaches to be immunised against the need to keep their jobs. Several of cricket’s successful coaches have been independently wealthy but not, unsurprisingly, the majority. They usually choose an alternative and less stressful oyster when their world is one.    

Alternatively, and far more commonly, the best coaches are those whose biggest and best opportunities come late in their careers when they have presumed the opportunity has passed them by. When a coach or a captain believe they have nothing to lose (apart from the game), they tend to be at their most dangerous and effective.    

When Shukri Conrad was coaching the Lions and Cobras and winning trophies a decade ago, he had good reason to believe he was on the radar for the Proteas job. But that was a period when there was still an appetite (and budget) for higher profile coaches. His abilities were appreciated and he was kept in the system with appointments to the National Academy, High Performance Programme and then the Under-19s.    

His elevation in January to the national Test team was as unexpected as it was welcome. He admits he is better prepared for the assignment now than he was 10 years ago and that he is less likely to hesitate in his decision-making. That was evident with the announcement of his first squad and the change of captaincy. Simple, straightforward and pragmatic.    

Dean Elgar may be reluctant or unable to admit it, but his two-year term as captain had come to a natural conclusion and Temba Bavuma was the obvious replacement. It wasn’t just the crushing series defeats in England and Australia, it was the prickly defensiveness on and off the field which led to a change in the leadership. A fresh approach and perspective was required.    

Like Conrad, but to a lesser extent, Bavuma was also wondering whether his chance at the top job had passed him by. It had been a mistake to lump the T20 and one-day international (ODI) captaincy together in the first place when he was appointed white-ball captain because the formats are more unalike now than ever before, and he was always the better prospect in Test cricket anyway.    

Playing less Test cricket than all of the other major nations might have led to an even more conservative approach — “with so few games we can’t afford to make any mistakes”. But  the opposite approach should serve the Proteas more profitably: “With so few games we can’t afford to let winning opportunities pass us by.”

Bavuma cast off the shackles of captaincy and preconceived game plans during the recent ODI series against England by scoring at better than a run-a-ball and belting a memorable century with the hopes of automatic World Cup qualification dependent on beating the world champions. Now that he has tasted success with the unrestricted freedom of a man whose career is on its second life, he may be more inclined towards a bolder Test match approach.    

Conrad, meanwhile, instigated a raft of dispassionate changes in the playing personnel for the two-Test series against the West Indies starting at Centurion at the end of February. Opener Sarel Erwee, Rassie van der Dussen and Khaya Zondo were dropped from the top order purely on results. As effective as Lungi Ngidi is in limited-overs cricket, it is impossible to ignore that he bowls well within himself in Test cricket, aware of his tendency to break down.    

The harshest decision was the omission of Kyle Verreynne, the most consistent run-scorer in England and Australia. His international career is far from over but, for now, the new coach has opted for two of the country’s most in-form batters in Heinrich Klaasen and Ryan Rickelton, the former as his wicketkeeper, though both are glovemen.    

Selectors, coaches and players have been treading on eggshells in and around the Proteas squad for years. The elephants in the room made it difficult for most people to speak comfortably, never mind sit down and relax. Conrad, one senses, has ushered the herd back into the bush. He will only get one shot at the job and he will take dead aim.