Johannesburg, October 02: South Africa`s persistent failure to deliver at ICC knock out events, highlighted most recently by its early exit from the Champions Trophy, has prompted the country`s Cricket Board to seek a report on where the team has been going wrong from coach Mickey Arthur.
This followed an unprecedented public outrage over the team`s failure to qualify for the Champions Trophy being played here.
“There will be a brutally honest analysis of the Proteas` early demise in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy and other failures of this nature in knock-out competitions to ensure that it does not happen again,” said a joint statement by Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola and Arthur.
“If mistakes have been made, they must be acknowledged and remedied before the next World Cup,” it added.
The statement said while credit must go to the Proteas for being ranked as the world`s top Test and ODI team, this should not “overshadow the need to bridge the gap between these ratings and the failure of the Proteas to reach the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy on home soil as well as other major knock-out tournaments elsewhere.”
“The analysis and remedial process is to begin immediately and a report on the way forward will be presented to the Board of Directors of Cricket South Africa by the national coach at its next Board meeting on the October 30,” it added.
–Agencies