Ferreira gets top coaching job

Anton "Yogi" Ferreira, the former Northern Transvaal and Warwickshire allrounder, has been appointed South Africa's new director of coaching, it was announced on Monday.

Highly qualified and one of the most popular men in the game, Ferreira steps into the position vacated by Jimmy Cook who left to coach Hampshire earlier this year.

Apart from his background as a player, Ferreira has coached at both first-class and junior level (he was in charge of the South African under 19 team at two junior World Cups). His new role with the United Cricket Board, however, will be less concerned with hands-on coaching than co-ordinating the efforts of coaches around the country from the national team down.

The 45-year-old Ferreira will take up his post from September 1.

"I think I can do the job," he said. "Otherwise I wouldn't have applied for it."

A heavyweight boxer as a teenage, Ferreira's imposing physical presence conceals a shrewd cricket mind as well as a cheerful and considerate nature. He starts off with the advantage of being liked throughout the country and in a job which will entail pulling a variety of strings together, this should prove no little asset.

In other developments at the UCB, the nominations for positions as national selectors were also announced. The selection panel, together with office bearers, will be elected at the UCB annual meeting this weekend.

Neither Clive Rice nor Kepler Wessels have been re-nominated and only two of the nine nominees, Graeme Pollock and Mike Procter have played international cricket. It must be some cause for concern that although South Africa returned to the international game in 1991, Rice and Wessels have been the only two selectors with post-isolation experience.

Of those who might be considered to have excellent credentials as selectors, Craig Matthews is precluded from nomination by Western Province policy while Dave Richardson is currently the national side's commercial manager.

Matthews is director of marketing at Newlands. According to WP CEO Arthur Turner: "We've found in the past that when people employed by us have been national selectors, there's been a conflict of interests. So we took a policy decision some time back not to allow our employees to serve as selectors."

Percy Sonn, who has acted as UCB president since the resignation of Ray White earlier this year, will be elected president unopposed at the meeting with John Blair also unopposed as treasurer.

There are, however, five nominations for the position of vice president - Richard Harrison of Northerns, Robbie Muzzell of Border, Mike Doherty of Griquas, Robbie Kurz of Natal and Dr Mthutulezi Nyoka of Gauteng. The outcome of this particular election will be awaited with some interest.

Also at the annual meeting, the Maritzburg Cricket Association will present its second bid in as many years for affiliation as South African cricket's 12th first-class province.

Full list of nominations

PRESIDENT

Adv Percy Sonn

VICE-PRESIDENT

Mr R Harrison Mr R Muzzell Mr M Doherty Mr R Kurz Dr M Nyoka

TREASURER

Mr J Blair

3 BLACK AFRICAN DELEGATES

Mr T Khumalo Mr G Majola Mr R Mali Mr S Makosana Dr M Nyoka

NATIONAL SELECTION PANEL

Mr G Pollock Mr SK Reddy Mr M Procter Mr M Khan Mr G Allie Mr R Majiet Mr M Garda Mr B Skjoldhammer Mr G Majola

NATIONAL U19 SELECTION PANEL

Mr S Chotia Mr C Anderson Dr L Naidoo Mr J Fredericks Mr M Mfobe Mr H Page Mr R Hendricks

PROVINCIAL REPRESENTATIVE ON GENERAL COUNCIL

Boland - Mr H Paulse Border - Mr R Muzzell Easterns - Mr C Suliman Eastern Province - Mr F Potgieter Free State - Mr C Robinson Gauteng - Mr G Ritchie Griqualand West - Mr M Doherty KwaZulu Natal - Mr R Kurz Northerns - Mr R Harrison North West - Mr M Gordon Western Province - Mr A Bloch