New Coach Ottis Gibson to arrive next week in South Africa

Newly appointed Head Coach for the Proteas, Ottis Gibson, is scheduled to reach South Africa next week on Monday. His first assignment would be against Bangladesh who would play two Tests, three ODIs and two T20Is in the Rainbow Nation. The Third Test match between England and West Indies at Lord’s was his last assignment as the bowling coach of England.

Gibson now has only 10 days to prepare for the upcoming series against Bangladesh. The first Test between Bangladesh and South Africa is scheduled to start on 28th September at Potchefstroom. Gibson recently took to Twitter to thank the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for his time there.

South Africa had a dismal tour of England which led to the demotion of former coach Russell Domingo to shepherd the South Africa ‘A’ side. Prior to the Champions Trophy, South Africa lost the ODI series by 3-2. What followed was an early exit from the Champions Trophy after defeats against India and Pakistan.

The Protean then lost the 3-match T20I series by 2-1. After levelling the series at Trent Bridge, South Africa lost the Test matches at Manchester and Oval to lose the series by 3-1. The immediate challenge for Gibson would be to take the men in green back to the top in World Cricket.

About a week back, Gibson affirmed that there is no reason why Proteas cannot lift the World Cup of 2019. As of now, Gibson would be assisted by Batting coach Niel McKenzie and Bowling Coach Charl Langeveldt, spin bowling coach Claude Henderson, and the assistant coach Adrian Birrell.

Here’s the Tweet

thanks for everything @ECB_cricket Next stop @OfficialCSA ??

— Ottis Gibson (@OdgibsonOttis) September 10, 2017

There had been concerns regarding players such as Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and Morne Morkel not being available in time to be present for Gibson’s arrival due to their commitments for their World XI game against Pakistan. Although it was later realised that the trio would be back in time to receive Ottis Gibson.