South Africa coach Shukri Conrad expressed his confidence in his players prioritising national commitments over participation in franchise leagues. The 58-year-old has been given the role of coaching the white-ball sides, succeeding Rob Walter, who resigned in April. Conrad has been coaching South Africa in the red-ball format since January 2023. Now, in an expansion of his current role, Conrad will oversee proceedings in Proteas cricket till the home ODI World Cup in 2027.
Conrad revealed on Friday that he had already started the process of long-term planning with centrally-contracted players, with an eye on ensuring their availability for international fixtures.
“We’re going to put out the best Proteas side every time we play. I’ve had conversations with our players, all-format players and guys that only play the one format that are contracted to us, that at every turn when the Proteas play, there’s an expectation that they’ll play for South Africa,” Conrad said at a press conference to announce his appointment on Friday.
“The Proteas will never be a franchise team, the Proteas will never be a league, nor will it be a convenience. This is part of building a culture and building an environment that players want to be part of. Every single player is committed to that and wanting to be a part of it so I can quite comfortably say that at every turn the best Proteas side will be put out on the field,” he added.
Conrad’s comments come in light of an increasingly packed calendar with South Africa playing actively from mid-June to mid-December. They have the highly anticipated World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at Lord’s Cricket Ground, starting on June 11. Later in the year, they will tour Pakistan and India.
They will play two Tests and a T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe in July and three T20Is and three ODIs each in Australia and England in August and September. Those series, however, clash with Major League Cricket (MLC), the Hundred and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Players such as Ryan Rickelton, Marco Jansen (both retained at the MLC), and David Miller (contracted to the Hundred but on a white-ball only central contract) will have to make a choice. Conrad stated that, following discussions, they will put the nation first.
Last year, South Africa sent a second-string squad to New Zealand to play a two-match Test series. This was because the first-choice players were involved in the SA20 2025.
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