South African coach wary of focussing on World Cup only
South Africa’s record in World Cup cricket is not very good but the current coach of the side has decided not to focus solely on the World Cup. Instead, Corrie van Zyl has said that while the side has begun its preparations for the conditions in the sub-continent – where the World Cup will be played – it will not be the side’s only priority.
Speaking to a South African newspaper, van Zyl said that if the side focussed too much on the World Cup, they end up getting tense. He added that he did not want the World Cup to be something big, but just a part of the process.
South Africa does not possess a good record at the World Cup, which is where the coach would have been coming from. They played their first World Cup in 1992, where they surprised the fans by getting to the semi-finals but a rather silly rain-rule saw their target reduce from 22 runs off 13 balls to 22 off one. The rule was later scrapped.
In 1996, they won all their five games to get to the quarter-finals before they met a rampaging Brian Lara and were sent packing. The 1999 edition saw them emerge as pre-tournament favourites but met Australia in the semi-finals. The game ended on level terms, but http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 ended in a tie. In 2007, they were routed by Australia in the semi-finals.
Perhaps, with this background, van Zyl does not to over-emphasise the importance of the premier tournament. He also added that the side will prefer concentrating on each series as it came. South Africa are due to play http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 in their lead-up to the World Cup.
Van Zyl also added that the side needed to get into a physically good condition. He added, “We have the time now to get the guys into peak condition, and once they are there, it is easier to maintain that condition. We also have to ensure that we function well as a team and that we improve the image of the Proteas, which took a knock after our disappointing performance in the Twenty20 World Cup.”
The coach also made it clear that it will make sense for the side to not experiment too much before the start of the World Cup.
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