Adversity can breed positive change - something South African cricket desperately needs

Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith has been writing exclusively for The Independent this summer. Here, in his final piece, he looks at the future of the Proteas

Addressing South Africa's lack of direction must be the first challenge for the country's new coach (Getty)

As Faf Du Plessis said upon arrival back in to Cape Town, whomever is confirmed as South Africa’s next head coach would be wise to avoid wholesale change as this squad looks to address the challenges highlighted during the Test Series in England.

There are clearly a number of issues faced by the squad as it stands, both from a tactical and personnel perspective. On the latter, a key marker of success for any new coach will be identifying players within the franchise system who have shown potential in terms of their ability to contribute consistently in Test Cricket for South Africa.

If I’m honest on that front, this is a transitional period for South African cricket. The squad appears to be in limbo, with there being a dearth of obvious Test Match talent presenting itself. All international sides go through this at some stage, and even against the backdrop of the ongoing political and economic issues that remain prominent when discussing South African cricket, sometimes there simply aren’t players out there putting their hands up.

If I were a domestic cricketer in my early twenties now, I would see this as a massive opportunity to force my name forward for selection. A worrying, yet inevitable trend that is by no means a new phenomenon, is these young players choosing to take their chances playing cricket outside of South Africa.

I often get asked ‘how can we prevent this from happening’? I firmly believe that we can’t. Players now have more freedom to make choices based on what’s best for them, and you can understand why players like Simon Harmer choose to make their living playing in the county game.

It’s a problem not only for Cricket South Africa, but also the ECB. The volume of South Africans plying their trade in England has clearly gone beyond a level that the governing body are comfortable with. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the ECB implemented incentives to the counties to give more opportunities to young British players, rather than grant ready made products of the South African system those opportunities.

Faf du Plessis leaves the pitch after being dismissed on day four of the final test (Getty)

From a South African point of view, it’s essential that the International set-up and the culture that comes with that remains something that’s looked up to - a level that young players continue to aspire to reach. Loss of talent through players seeking opportunities as free agents is a problem faced by other international boards as well, but the sting is arguably felt strongest by South Africa.

Unfortunately, from a personnel point of view, the tier of players knocking on the door in domestic cricket is where the gap is. The squad we’ve seen this summer really is the best set of players available at present, and some of those players have had a tough time of it having made that step up.

I don’t believe that it’s simply the results we’ve seen on this tour that are the issue. You lose games sometimes, that’s sport. There just seems to have been a real lack of direction to South Africa’s cricket across all formats on this tour, and addressing that will be the first and possibly the most important challenge for the new coach.

Faf du Plessis with team-mate Hashim Amla during the fourth Test (Getty)

It’s looking increasingly likely that Ottis Gibson, presently still England’s bowling coach, will take the reins from Russell Domingo. It’s certainly not beyond the realms of imagination to envisage that the stagnation we’ve seen from this squad of players is somehow linked to Russell’s tenure winding down to its end.

Whomever the new coach is, they will have to be assertive in deciding how they want the team to play their cricket, before identifying the personnel capable of playing that brand of cricket and backing them. That will be a challenge, especially for Gibson as he would be embarking on a role that could go a long way to defining how his coaching career takes shape.

As a young player now, the desire for quick results and quick money can be a distraction from the basics of the game – you need to score runs or take wickets to get to the next level in your career.

South African cricket is caught in limbo (Getty)

Hard work, performing consistently and being rewarded for that is a system that doesn’t change with time. My advice to young players in South Africa would be to get their heads down, put in the graft that is required and throw your hat in the ring whilst there are Test places to be nailed down.

Preparations for the upcoming series against Bangladesh will start before long. Reflecting honestly on what we’ve seen from this squad in England over the summer is a necessary step towards making the necessary changes needed to start moving forward once more.

That doesn’t mean wholesale change for change’s sake, as Faf alluded to, but an assessment of where improvements can be made as well as who’s going to drive that improvement. Adversity can breed positive change, something South African cricket desperately needs.