There has been a major shake up in the world of South African cricket, ahead of their tour in India which starts on February 6th. Coach Mickey Arthur, who was never one to shy away from expressing his personal views, has stepped down from his position, and the board of selectors have also been cleared out. Selectors Mustapha Khan, Craig Matthews and the awesomely named Winky Ximiya have all made way from their position.
The Proteas, who salvaged a Test series draw against England on home turf, could be suffering from a case of political head butting, as Arthur cited too many differences between himself and Cricket South Africa. Apparantly all of this means that he could not take the team in the direction in which he wanted. Corrie van Zyl has stepped in an interim coach, and will lead the national side in their difficult tour in India. There had been many rumblings that Arthur and South African captain Graeme Smith simply did not get, on, but Arthur suggests otherwise, that simply he and the CSA didn’t weren’t heading in the same direction.
Arthur had been at the helm of South African cricket for five years, elevating them to the position of being the best team in the world. Apparently the list of results was not good enough the powers that be, and this caused conflict. South Africa failed to produce in any tournaments in 2009, and the most recent failure to punish England in the Test series, clearly didn’t help matters behind the scenes either. Their world status had appeared to have started to flatter to deceive. The tour in India now takes on extra precendence in which direction the future of South African cricket really takes.
India to win: Evens at Blue Square
Drawn Series: 9/4 at William Hill
South Africa: 3/1 at SkyBet
