England face the prospect of losing Ottis Gibson, their fast-bowling coach, to South Africa before the start of this winter’s Ashes.
Gibson, who returned for a second stint with England after four years as head coach of West Indies, has been approached by South Africa to become their head coach and is understood to be interested in the position.
Russell Domingo, the present South Africa head coach, is out of contract after the end of this Test match, although The Times understands that he has reapplied for the job after Cricket South Africa (CSA) advertised the position on May 18. CSA have confirmed that they expect the new coach to be in position by the beginning of next month.
A five-man selection panel, which includes the former South Africa coach Gary Kirsten, has been conducting a search for the past two months and it is understood that Gibson, who played for three provinces in South Africa, is their preferred candidate. South Africa are due to play Bangladesh at the end of next month and the panel said that they have spoken with the ECB about releasing Gibson from his contract, a claim that the ECB denies.
The move would leave England needing to appoint a new bowling coach before they fly to Australia at the end of October. Previous names in the frame for the position have included Richard Johnson, the Middlesex bowling coach, but the ECB may again look overseas to fill the vacancy as it did with Troy Cooley, David Saker and Gibson.
Advertisement
Paul Farbrace, the England assistant coach, said: “Ottis is someone who has had a lot of international experience, he did a great job for the West Indies, he has done a great job with England on two occasions, but at the moment Russell Domingo is head coach of South Africa and doing a brilliant job and it would be disrespectful to talk about his position whilst he is in it. We have obviously heard the speculation about Ottis but I promise you we have heard nothing official and now I hope it is all left until the end of the series.”
Keaton Jennings’s struggles at the top of the order continued when he was caught behind for just 17 but Farbrace spoke positively about his England future.
“Test cricket is a harsh world to come into,” he said. “We thought in the second innings at the Oval he showed real application, he really fought and got stuck in and I know he nicked one through slips but he really applied himself and I thought today he showed he has made some adjustments.
“He has found out a lot about himself in the last few games, there’s no doubt, and there are areas of his game that he would want to work on, but there hasn’t been any time to take a step back and work on a couple of things.
“But the one thing we would judge him on is his character, his personality to cope with the last few weeks and I have to say he is a very honest young man who works very hard on his game. He will make a success of international cricket. When you have someone who is driven to be the best that they can be you want to stick with them and give them every opportunity.”
Advertisement
Farbrace said that he was pleased with the condition of the Old Trafford pitch but complimented South Africa on their bowling. “We were all a bit surprised when we got to have a look at the pitch this morning . . . credit to the ground staff.
“They’ve bowled exceptionally well, we have had to fight really hard. If you bat first you’re showing intent that you are trying to take control of the game. We are pretty pleased where we have got to at 260 for six.”
