When Ray Jennings was appointed coach of the South African cricket team, there were many who said the senior players would rebel against his coaching and management style.
But after four days in a team camp at the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre, Jennings appeared on Monday to have won the support of the two most senior players — batsman Jacques Kallis and bowler Shaun Pollock.
Jennings seems to have achieved this by one of the oldest tricks in the book — give them some responsibility and they will rise to it.
”I spoke to Smithy [captain Graeme Smith] and he agreed that Kallis and Pollock were going to take the responsibility of guiding the rest of the team in batting and bowling respectively. And as a result, those two guys are going into the nets and helping our players cement their ideas of how to play against the Indians,” he said.
”Both of them have played a huge role in helping the players to understand what roles they have to play, and helping them to prepare.
”You’ll see a new Jacques Kallis,” he said. ”His input is going to be at a different level.
”He has always been a bit reserved and quiet, and he felt he had no right to impose his ideas on the other players. But once the door was opened, and I had the younger players talking about how they felt about Jacques, it certainly came out loud and clear how they felt about his input.
”He’s come out of his shell — you’ll see a more open guy that’s going to feel happier to pass on information, rather than a Jacques Kallis that’s quiet, thinking that no one really wants to hear what he has to say.”
Jennings added that Kallis had told him that two months ago he had not been enjoying his cricket.
”His girlfriend told him, ‘Once you start winning again, you’ll enjoy it.’ But he said, ‘We’ve been playing for four days, and we haven’t won, and I’m loving it.’ He loves the games we play when we field — he’ll play all day. I’m getting a very warm feeling from him and Pollock.”
Regarding Pollock, Jennings said the former captain is a deep thinker about the game.
”He’s got such a culture of how he reads the game. He understands the game, and he’s got his finger on the pulse. He’s added unbelievable value to the team on those issues.”
”The way I see it,” said Jennings, ”I have two of the most experienced players in the world leading our pack, and Smithy can take control of where to put them.” — Sapa