Kepler is SA's best choice (19 June 1999)

19 June 1999

Kepler is SA's best choice

Micheal Owen-Smith - London

Kepler Wessels is the man to lead South African cricket forward into the future.

Kepler Wessels is the right man to form the triumvirate with Hansie and Graham Ford to lead South African cricket into the millennium season.

It was five years ago that Cronje, Bob Woolmer and Peter Pollock sat down to plan South Africa's World Cup campaign that ended with such stunning abruptness at Edgbaston on Thursday.

Now South African cricket needs to take stock once more and decide where it is going.

Technically Cronje's appointment as captain ended on Thursday with South Africa's World Cup hopes.

There is no doubt, however that his bosses will want him to carry on and that they will want him to captain the side for the next three series - against Zimbabwe (home and away), England (home) and India (away).

"I need to get away from it all and have a good rest for the next three months," said Cronje "It will give me time to think about where I want to go from here."

Of course, South Africa wants him to carry on. Not only is he the best leader of the team, but he has also become an ambassador extraordinary for South Africa.

Cronje has always been his own man and he will decide when he wants to go.

When he has had time to get the trauma of World Cup defeat out of his system, he will also come to the realization that he has still to achieve the three great goals in his cricketing life: a World Cup trophy, a test series victory over Australia and a test series victory in England.

He will also realize that he still has time enough on his side to achieve all those goals. He will only be 30 in September and is no older than the Waugh brothers.

Relationship

On top of that, the fact that the next World Cup is in South Africa could keep him going to 2003.He has already struck up an excellent working relationship with Ford in the day-to-day running of the team and he clearly has a healthy respect for the Natalian.

Cronje will be happy to carry on with Ford at his side and will need the appointment of a convener of selectors who thinks, understands and runs the game the way he does. The new convener will be appointed next month by the new board elected at the annual meeting.

"We will wait for nominations from the provinces but we will reserve the right to appoint from outside the nominations," UCB managing director Ali Bacher said. Amazingly there do not seem to be any obvious contenders. "Even off the record I can't tell you who we are looking at," Bacher said. "It is going to be a difficult appointment."

Wessels and Cronje have long since settled the differences that existed between them during the Australian tour of South Africa in 1997 The argument that Wessels can't do the job because he is still playing does not hold any water.

Indeed, from his position in the slips for Griquas, you could argue that he has a much better view of what is going on than anybody sitting in the grandstand.

He is also privy to all the dressing room gossip that helps to unearth unsuspected talent.

The main job of a selector is not so much the recognition of talent but the correct assessment of the player who has the mental tenacity to do the job at the highest level.

Nobody will argue with the fact that Wessels offers knowledge, experience, mental toughness and the ruthlessness that every selector needs. He will not fudge the issue when he knows he has to make decisions that will not necessarily be popular with the wider public.

The best thing that Griquas boss Mike Doherty can do is to put Wessels' name forward as soon as possible. Wessels was enormously respected both by players and the public during his term as national player and captain.

More importantly he will give Cronje the impetus to carry on.