With the shocking resignation of Proteas limited-overs coach Rob Walter announced by Cricket South Africa on Tuesday, Independent Media's Ongama Gcwabe highlights the highs and lows of his two-year tenure.
HIGH: T20 World Cup Final
The curse of the semi-final in ICC events for the Proteas men's senior team has always been a real, hard pill to swallow. With strong squads such as the 1999 World Cup squad and the AB de Villiers-led 2015 World Cup squad, South Africa just could not get over the line in the semifinals.
✨A Date with Destiny! ✨
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) June 29, 2024
32 years in the making has all come down to this very moment.
Watch our Proteas take on India in the ICC T20 World Cup Final today in Barbados! 🇿🇦vs🇮🇳
🗓️ 29 June
🏟 Kensington Oval, Barbados
🕚 16:30 CAT
📺 SuperSport Grandstand (Channel 201)… pic.twitter.com/dBK4faAiiX
Walter, with a squad without as many stars, led South Africa to their first-ever final in the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados. This is the achievement that instilled belief in the Proteas squad and inspired generations to come.
LOW: Dismal bilateral record
While the team reached new heights in ICC events, they were shocking in bilateral series. In T20I series, Walter has only one series victory, last summer's 2-0 series victory against Pakistan, while he went on to lose against the West Indies home and away, lost to Australia at home and even failed to win a series against minnows Ireland.
So the Proteas go into the Champions Trophy having lost 8 out of their 11 ODIs since the start of 2024, including their last 6 in a row
— Werner (@Werries_) February 12, 2025
Uphil battle as we face Afghanistan, England and Australia in the group stage of the short tournament pic.twitter.com/c8gW9CJ3BC
The 49-year-old won only six out of 22 bilateral T20i matches. He had a similar record in One Day Internationals bilateral series as he won only 12 out of 25 matches, including a series loss to Afghanistan, a feat that saw the coach under pressure for most of his tenure.
HIGH: Securing the future
If there is anything that has stood out in Walter's tenure, it has been his fearlessness in blooding in new and younger players into the Proteas set-up. Without Walter's boldness, chances are slim that the world would have seen the likes of Nqaba Peter, Dewald Brevis and Andile Simelane in the green and gold so early into their careers.
🧢 Special moment for Nqaba Peter as QDK presented him with his first Proteas cap this past weekend. ✨
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) May 27, 2024
Here is to many memories in 🟢🟡#WozaNawe #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/t09k17cbE0
Because of Walter, the country's talent pool has widened, as many players have gotten the exposure they needed in order to have a feel of what international cricket is about.