Team discipline the key for Corrie van Zyl
Firdose Moonda
January 29, 2010
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Corrie van Zyl, portrait
Corrie van Zyl was named interim coach after Mickey Arthur's resignation ? Getty Images
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Players/Officials: Mickey Arthur | Corrie van Zyl
Teams: South Africa
Once, these two men used to go on tour together as team-mates. In fact, they even shared a room. Now, one of them has replaced the other as the national cricket coach. This time, he'll get his own room, with the pressures his predecessor left behind as company.
In the early 1990s, Corrie van Zyl and Mickey Arthur both played for Free State. Arthur used to open the batting while van Zyl was an integral part of the bowling attack. The two played together for five seasons and won six trophies in that time, including four limited-overs competitions and two first-class cups. Both became cricket coaches after their playing days.
Arthur coached the relatively small province of Griqualand West, while van Zyl was the assistant to three national coaches. In 2005, roles reversed - almost. Arthur was appointed national coach while van Zyl had already left the South African set up to go back to his roots.
"After my stint as the assistant coach, I felt that I needed to look after my own team, so I went back to the Free State and coached the Eagles from the beginning of the franchise system (2004-05) until last season," van Zyl said. He won six titles while in charge and had his eye on the country's top coaching job. "I was hoping to take over from Mickey at some stage." On Tuesday this week, van Zyl got his wish.
"I would have wanted it to do it under different circumstances and would have preferred it if it was on Mickey's own terms," van Zyl said. "But this is the last time I will speak about how tough it is to take over at such short notice." Although van Zyl has been appointed in interim capacity for the tour to India, he wants to use the opportunity to stamp his coaching style on the national side.
"I'm not sure if it's going to be stranger for the players who knew me as an assistant or for me, because they are really going to see a different side of me. As the assistant, you do what the head coach wants, you follow orders. As the coach, you make the rules," said van Zyl. His biggest rule is discipline. "I believe in team culture. The team must look after discipline and if they can't then it becomes my responsibility. I will not pass the buck on that." While the South African team is an outfit that's well known for its professionalism, van Zyl has promised to intensify this trait within the team. Sarel Cilliers, who took over the coaching of the Eagles when van Zyl ended his tenure at the end of the 2008-09 season, confirmed that van Zyl's style may take the South Africans by surprise. "He is very disciplined, has a great work ethic and intense knowledge of the game. He will not compromise at all when it comes to preparation and brings a lot of structure to the team."
A calming influence is certainly necessary for South Africa, especially considering recent events. Van Zyl said he wants every member of the team to feel at ease, and he singled out Ashwell Prince as one of his main concerns. "I really want to chat to him and find out what he wants to do. They must be certain things we can juggle around but ideally I think he should bat where he would like to be." Van Zyl told Cricinfo he hadn't had the time to think about any other strategies ahead of the India tour, but would be using the next few days to focus on that.
According to Cilliers, van Zyl's plans are likely to involve every member of the team. "He will be good for the experienced players, because he will give them the freedom to do their thing and he will also play a strong mentoring role for the younger guys." Van Zyl is known for his ability to work with junior players. Prior to his appointment as interim coach of the national side, he was in charge of the High Performance Program and had the responsibility of identifying and training potential international players. "I applied for the job because I thought it would be a great challenge and Mickey and I wanted somebody to look after the younger players. I was really enjoying it there and had in fact just finished doing my strategy on Monday morning and sent it to Cricket South Africa and they were happy with it and told me to start working on it. Obviously I won't be able to do that immediately.
"I would like to see those plans come to fruition at the HPC and I don't want it to die a slow death," van Zyl said. His passion for player development suggests he may like to return to the HPC, but van Zyl will not rule out accepting the job of South African coach permanently. "Any coach that is worth his salt would want to coach at national level. I would be foolish to turn it down."
