Gary Kirsten to take short leave before World Twenty20 – Cricket News Update
South Africa’s head coach http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gary-Kirsten-c58527 will be taking a short break in order to spend time with his family prior to the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka during the later part of September, and is due to depart a few days early from the ongoing England tour.
The early departure results in Kirsten missing the team’s final T20I match against England, due to be played at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
"I have made a decision to go home and to see my family, that is something that has always been part of my thinking when I took up this job," said Kirsten. "I think it will be good for the team, just to have me out of the space for a little bit and to see
how the ship runs. I'm looking forward to seeing how that unfolds."
Kirsten’s break was a part of the team’s long-term plan, and during his absence, assistant coach http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Russell-c87177 Domingo will be handed the reins for the final T20I. The break marks Kirsten’s second leave ever since he took up the role of South Africa’s head coach
in June 2011 – the first was taken during a Test match in Cape Town against Australia last year, when his wife was having a baby.
However, Kirsten’s absence is not likely to prove a major set-back for South Africa, who maintain a 1-0 upper-hand in the 3-match T20I series so far – they won the first match, played at Chester-le-Street on September 8, by a margin of 7 wickets, while the
second T20I, scheduled to take place at Manchester on September 10, was washed out due to rain.
Overall, the Proteas’ England tour serves as another feather in Kirsten’s cap, with the team having dethroned the Poms and taken the title of the ICC’s top-ranked Test team. The tour kicked off with a 3-match extended-overs series, which culminated in a
2-0 (3) win for the visitors, who promptly took up the top spot on the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625’s Test team table.
They also managed to momentarily grab the number one position on the ODI rankings from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013, before the Poms bounced back to reclaim their top spot, with the 5-match series ending on a 2-2 draw.
Following the tour of England, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 (September 19) respectively, before kicking off their World T20 campaign as the defending
champions.
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