January 25, 2012: With the recent surprise resignation of Graham Ford as Dolphins cricket coach, KZN Cricket Pty (Ltd) have adopted a two-stage process to find a replacement head coach for the Sunfoil Dolphins.
The first stage is to appoint an interim coach to commence as soon as possible, until the end of the 2011/2012 cricket season. KZN Cricket today confirmed that former Dolphins and Proteas all-rounder (and match-winner) Lance Klusener will fill that role until the end of March 2012.
Thereafter a formal process to recruit a new coach will be put in place, with Klusener obviously being one of the prospective coaches in the running for that position.
KZN Cricket commented in a press release: “Lance brings a wealth of experience from having played the game successfully at every level. He is a son of KZN Cricket and we welcome his involvement in a new role as Head Coach.”
Imraan Khan, captain of the Sunfoil Dolphins said, “This is a great appointment. Lance is a legend in Dolphins cricket! With all his experience in the game, I am looking forward to him passing this on to the younger players in the squad.”
“It is a great pleasure to have Lance on board. We, the Board and Council of the Kwazulu-Natal Cricket Union are committed to ensuring that our players are surrounded by quality coaches. We are still focused on the T20 competition. With Lance’s vast experience at our disposal, we believe that our players will be challenged and want to perform,” commented Fa-eez Jaffar, the President of KZNCU and Chairman of the Board.
“Lance also has first hand knowledge on the dynamics and makeup of our team. Lance also shares the vision of the Board and Council of wanting to make the Dolphins the best franchise in the country.”
As a coach, Klusener has a CSA level 3 certification and has been involved with the Sunfoil Dolphins and provincial teams for the past three years. He has further assisted as the Cricket South Africa High Performance and SA (A) team bowling coach.
“Being a former Dolphin, I am very proud of my team and want to be part of the process of rebuilding the team to its rightful place as SA’s number 1 franchise,” said “Zulu”, as he was popularly known by his Proteas team-mates and fans.
“Zulu” stats as a player:
Tests 49. 1 906 runs; 80 wickets at 37.9
ODIs 171. 5 751 runs; 192 wickets at 29.95
Test batting average: 32.86
ODI batting average: 41 (strike rate of 89)