The Proteas Women's buck now stops with Mashimbyi after culling of backroom staff

When a head coach chooses to overhaul virtually his entire backroom staff less than two months — and only one series — prior to a T20 World Cup, it is hard to believe that all is well within the team.

The timing of Monday's removal of Baakier Abrahams (batting coach), Bongani Ndaba (fielding coach), and Zane Webster (strength and conditioning coach) from the Proteas Women’s set-up certainly came as a surprise.

All three are highly professional and skilled in their respective fields, with Abrahams (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Ndaba (Pretoria Capitals), and Webster (MI Cape Town) even being seconded to Betway SA20 men’s franchises during the women’s off-season.

The trio played an integral role in the Proteas Women’s team reaching successive ICC T20 World Cup finals, while Webster was also part of the coaching staff that broke the glass ceiling by progressing to a first-ever T20 World Cup final in Cape Town back in 2023.

However, during Monday’s media briefing, Proteas Women’s coach Mandla Mashimbyi stated: “It's got nothing to do with the capabilities of the coaches or anything like that, whether this one is bad or this one is good. It had nothing to do with that.

“I wanted a change in energy, change in voices, change in perspective as well. So I just felt that maybe that's what the team needs.”

Mashimbyi went one step further in his explanation, adding, “It's nothing personal with the support staff that we've let go.”

There was no doubt the Proteas were feeling the heat after their recent tour of New Zealand, having lost both the T20I (4-1) and ODI (2-1) series. But by Mashimbyi’s own admission, it was the under-performing bowling unit that had primarily let the team down.

In fact, the Proteas bowlers had conceded over 300 runs in four of their last five ODIs — logic dictating that bowling coach Dillon du Preez would be the one under the microscope.

Yet, it was Du Preez who survived the cull. Mashimbyi offered this justification:

“You look at things outside that in terms of a bowling coach, what does it really bring into the space?” he said. “And also the fact that in my communications with him, does he align with where I think the team is going as well?”

So, Mashimbyi has pivoted from “nothing personal” to “does he align with where I think the team is going?”— leaving it safe to assume that Abrahams, Ndaba, and Webster were no longer singing from the same hymn sheet as the man in charge.

Every coach has the right to choose their own support staff, and Mashimbyi has exercised that right with the interim appointments of Tumi Masekela (strength and conditioning coach), Andrew Puttick (batting coach), and Mduduzi Mbhatha (fielding coach) until after the upcoming T20 World Cup.

But he will be hoping this decision doesn’t come back to bite him, especially after removing a coaching group that oversaw three of the national team’s highest ODI totals in the last year, and three of their four highest T20I totals over the past two years.

Equally, captain Laura Wolvaardt has enjoyed her most fruitful period over the past two years, smashing career-bests in both the ODI and T20I formats. She has notably benefited from the technical analysis Abrahams provided to take her game to the next level.

Ultimately, the buck now stops solely with Mashimbyi. His vision will be put to the test immediately, starting with the upcoming five-match series against India and the looming T20 World Cup.

“Whether it's going to work out, only time will tell,” he said.

It indeed will.