Shukri Conrad, the coach of South Africa, said he is confident in his team’s decision to put national obligations ahead of franchise league competition. Rob Walter quit in April, and the 58-year-old has been appointed to coach the white-ball teams. Since January 2023, Conrad has been South Africa’s red-ball coach. Conrad will now oversee Proteas cricket operations until the home ODI World Cup in 2027 as part of an expansion of his present position.
In order to guarantee the availability of centrally contracted players for international games, Shukri Conrad announced on Friday that he had already begun the process of long-term planning.
“Every time we play, we’re going to present the finest Proteas team. At a news conference to announce his hiring on Friday, Shukri Conrad stated, “I’ve spoken with our players, both all-format players and guys who only play the one format that are contracted to us, and they always expect to play for South Africa when the Proteas play.”
“The Proteas are not going to be a league, a franchise team, or a convenience. This is a component of creating an atmosphere and culture that gamers desire to be a part of. I can confidently state that the greatest Proteas team will be on the pitch at all times because every single player is dedicated to that and wants to be a part of it’, he continued.
Considering that South Africa plays actively from mid-June to mid-December, Conrad’s remarks are made in the context of an increasingly full schedule. On June 11, they will play Australia in the eagerly awaited World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s Cricket Ground. They will travel to India and Pakistan later this year.
In July, they will play two Test matches and a T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe. In August and September, they will play three T20I matches and three ODIs apiece in Australia and England. However, those series overlap with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the Hundred, and Major League Cricket (MLC). Players like David Miller, who is contracted to the Hundred but only has a white-ball central contract, Ryan Rickelton, and Marco Jansen—both of whom are kept at the MLC—will need to make a decision. After negotiations, they will prioritise the country, Conrad said.
A second-string team from South Africa travelled to New Zealand for a two-match Test series last year. This occurred as a result of the first-choice players participating in the SA20 2025.
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