While Du Preez takes on interim role with Proteas women, the search for a permanent appointment drags on

Cricket SA’s search for a permanent head coach for the Proteas women’s team will have stretched to almost a year by the time the team leaves for a tour to India next month. 

The team’s preparations for that trip will be overseen by Dillon du Preez, who on Friday was appointed on an interim basis after Hilton Moreeng chose not to continue in the role. 

Du Preez, 42, had been Moreeng’s assistant and the side’s bowling coach for the last four years, but he acknowledged he was caught off guard by Moreeng’s decision to step away.

Moreeng, who originally took the job in 2012, has been operating on short term contracts since last year’s T20 World Cup.

The last of those expired at the end of April.

Nevertheless it appears CSA was still surprised when Moreeng informed the organisation he was no longer interested in the role.

“The timing of it is not great, but we respect his decision,” said director of cricket Enoch Nkwe.

“The players are a little bit shocked, they didn’t expect this to happen immediately at the end of the season.”

The management of the process surrounding the appointment of a permanent head coach has been handled messily by CSA.

The organisation was aware that Moreeng’s contract was expiring last year, while a number of senior players had also voiced their unhappiness at what was loosely termed his outdated methods. 

CSA did advertise for the position last year but when it didn’t find the right candidate, Moreeng was first granted a short-term contract until the end of 2023, which was then extended to April.

In addition, they also headhunted for a coach but “couldn’t find anyone”, said Nkwe.

“We didn’t want to drag the process.” 

Nkwe said he had talked with Moreeng about continuing in the role until next year’s ODI World Cup, but that he chose to walk away.

“At the end of January we had meetings and made the decision to focus on the short and medium term.

“We wanted him to help us with the transition to the period post the 50-over World Cup next year.

“Hilton was comfortable then and understood the big picture but, unfortunately, come the end of the (current) season, he just felt he didn’t have it any more.”

Asked why Du Preez wasn’t appointed permanently, Nkwe said: “There (are) also internal processes we need to respect. This was probably the better way — to go the route of interim, while we are trying to sort out things internally and allow Dillon the space to think through the medium and the long term.”

Du Preez, who had a lengthy playing career with Free State, said he would be using the Indian tour — the schedule of which is still being negotiated — to assess whether he wanted to take the job on a permanent basis.

“Maybe it’s too early to say, but I definitely want the job, I want to coach at the highest level. But let's talk after India,” he said.

Du Preez will oversee the training camp in Pretoria later this month to prepare for that tour. 

Moreeng’s tenure included the professionalisation of the women’s game, with CSA handing out contracts for the first time in 2014. Besides last year’s runners-up finish in the T20 World Cup, the Proteas also made it to the semifinals of that competition on two other occasions, along with two semifinal appearances in the ODI World Cup. 

Nkwe said he would like to see Moreeng remain involved with South African cricket. “We don’t want to lose someone with his experience, we would like to retain him in some capacity to help us with the women’s pathways.” 

Besides the Proteas women's coaching position, CSA has also not appointed a director of women’s cricket, a position Nkwe described as a priority last year. That job was also advertised, and interviews were held in August last year, but the position remains vacant.