Gary Kirsten will emulate countryman Mickey Arthur when he becomes head coach of his fourth Test-playing nation next month. Having coached India to the World Cup in 2011 and taken South Africa to the number one ranking in all three formats, Kirsten briefly endured what he called an “ill-fated” five months with Pakistan. Now for Sri Lanka. He will take up residence in Colombo next month.
“It’s a fantastic challenge and I can’t wait to get started. I’ve missed coaching on the biggest stage, there’s nothing quite like it,” said Kirsten who has also coached franchise teams in the Big Bash and The Hundred as well as enjoying consultancy roles with the Netherlands and Namibia – amongst others.
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“Franchise cricket and short-term consultancy are very different challenges to working long-term with a team. I prefer to build longer-term relationships with players rather than having to focus on recruitment, short-term strategy and who is going to play in the next game, usually tomorrow. Everything has to be done immediately in the quest for the next two points,” Kirsten said.
“There are plenty of coaches who are really good at that – Andy Flower, Stephen Fleming and Ashish Nehra at Gujarat, to name a few, but I’m better when I can take my time, which is why this opportunity means so much to me.
“There is no shortage of talent in Sri Lanka – there never has been – but there are some especially exciting players at the moment and they’re probably not doing themselves justice being ranked number eight in T20 cricket and sixth in both ODIs and Test cricket. Sri Lanka Cricket believe they are better than that and I agree,” Kirsten said.
There are, however, no deadlines, demands or ultimatums. “Nothing like that, no. I’m not sure it works if you tell a coach, or a captain, ‘do this or you get the sack.’ Nobody has said we have to win the World Cup or climb into the top three of the rankings, although obviously we’ll be trying to do all of those things.”
His hiatus from full-time international coaching was self-imposed and it was for the same reason he left his post as Proteas coach after two years when an option for a two-year extension was always in his contract. Kirsten was never prepared to leave his young family for extended periods of time and always had a ‘pact’ with wife Deborah that they would never be separated for more than six weeks. It even meant Kirsten returning to Cape Town from Adelaide in between Tests on South Africa’s 2012 tour of Australia – for just three nights at home.
“Family will always come first but times have changed. Our oldest son, Josh, has just finished at Stellenbosch University and James is now 18. Our daughter, Joanna, is 14 so Debs will be coming to Colombo with her whenever possible and there will be a few times when I can return home, but it’s a pretty full-on schedule over the next 18 months and SLC have quite rightly asked for me to be properly based in the country,” Kirsten said.
He is sanguine and philosophical about his time with Pakistan – Kirsten doesn’t do grudges. He shared coaching duties with Australian Jason Gillespie and remembers quite clearly the moments when he knew the appointment was a mistake:
“After we were eliminated from the T20 World Cup we had an honest and forthright team meeting in which I told a few truths about the need to improve. The following day everything appeared in the newspaper, word for word! Then Dizzy and I organised a get-together for the players and all the other stakeholders, a chance for everyone to have their say. We thought it went well… two days later I was informed by the PCB media manager that I had been removed from the selection panel and would have no influence over who played and who didn’t. It was time to leave,” Kirsten says with a smile.
As excited as he is about the next two years with Sri Lanka, he naturally keeps a close eye on international South African cricket: “They have played superbly across formats for the last year or 18 months and there are a heck of a lot of talented youngsters coming through. Unfortunately, they will always be judged by many people on World Cups, and it was a pity that they went out at the semi-final stage, but they played the best cricket in the tournament before that. It might not be a consolation, to the fans, but it probably should be,” Kirsten says.
He is still in discussion with his new employers about support staff and other details but Gary Kirsten, famously appointed by the BCCI on the recommendation of ‘consultant’ Ravi Shastri despite a complete absence of international coaching experience, is back on the international circuit.
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Without lamenting the world cup disappointment too much Our boys did us proud. If this Indian team is as good as everyone says they are (on home soil and given every imaginable advantage within reason) then Our boys are pretty damn good. Would have love to have Gary coaching the Proteas again although Shukri is doing a hell of a good job. I've never really met Gary, except as a 8 or 9 year old fan but he is still one of my favourite batsmen and such a succesful coach. Sri Lanka have pulled off a great signing here and they deserve all the good that will surely come from it.
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