Ottis Gibson officially unveiled as Proteas coach

Ottis Gibson was officially unveiled as Proteas head coach on Tuesday. The 48-year old replaces Russell Domingo who occupied the position from 2013.

He sat on his first press conference in South African colours and addressed a few questions the public might have had regarding his appointment.

Also read: Seven things Ottis Gibson must fix as new Proteas cricket head coach

On coaching the Proteas

He expressed the surrealism of it all:

“To sit here and sort of refer to myself as the head coach of the Proteas is an amazing thing and I’m really looking forward to working with the group of players we have, working with Cricket South Africa,” 

On the 2019 World Cup

South Africa have a well-documented history of not doing well in ICC tournaments having not won a World Cup despite often being dominant leading up to big tournaments. Gibson comes into the Proteas set up knowing the public expect nothing less than silverware.

“We all know that a lot has been said about the World Cup in 2019, that is the big goal but there is a lot of time between now and 2019,” he said.

On the talent at his disposal

There’s no denying that he will be working with some of the best players in the world, and he recognises his role in ensuring they compete to their potential.

“I’ve worked in England on two separate occasions and everytime we’ve played against South Africa there’s been some good battles, but one thing I’ve always seen is amazing talent and I know that there’s amazing talent and my job is to get that talent to perform on the field,” he explained.

On his backroom staff

With batting being the biggest issue in recent series, batting coach Neil McKenzie’s position might have been in question but Gibson has decided not to tinker with his coaching staff.

Also with the Barbadian’s area of expertise being bowling, many might have believed he would do away with bowling coach Charl Langeveldt but he has opted for the contrary.

“Cricket is not like football where the manager gets fired and the next person that comes in brings in their whole new support staff,” he said.

Also read: Welcome and good luck, Ottis Gibson

He continued:

“I’m very aware that I’m coming here and I have a game in two weeks so I don’t have time to go and pick people and tell them to come do this thing with me in South Africa. What I’ve decided along with Cricket South Africa is to keep the people involved for the moment so that it gives me time to assess them and see what else is out there so that by the end of the Bangladesh series I can tell CSA what people I want.”

Gibson’s first assignment as Proteas coach will be when they take on Bangladesh at home. The test series starts on 28 September in Potchefstroom.