Johannesburg: South African cricket team coach Russell Domingo is running the risk of alienating himself from the fourth estate for not being able to sportingly cop criticism for the Proteas semi final exit from the ICC World Twenty20 Cup that was played in Bangladesh recently.
According to former South African spinner Pat Symcox, Domingo hasn't taken kindly to the post-tournament criticism he was subjected to by former players turned pundits, and in particular, from former Australia and South Africa international Kepler Wessels.
It maybe recalled that South Africa lost to India in the semi-finals.
According to his analysis that has been reported by Sport24, Symcox is of the view that Domingo needs to understand that commentators, TV pundits and scribes will praise or criticize the national side after each and every performance, and that this comes with the territory in professional sport.
It's about being entitled to an opinion, and although your views may differ from mine, freedom of speech should always be encouraged, he adds.
He believes that Domingo is flirting with danger because in the circle of the coaching life, there is only one guarantee -- that one day you will need some friends in the media to help you when you are shown the door.
Symcox also says it is highly improbable to always keep winning, and when the team fails, the strategies of the coach are almost always dissected and questioned.
He says that a lot has been written about how certain players could have been used to far greater effect, such as the debate over the batting positions of impact hitters like AB de Villiers, David Miller and Albie Morkel, or, should the South Africans spinners been brought on at the start of the game, and not later.
He concludes by saying that for the coaching staff to fail to understand or accept this fact that praise and criticism will be applied in equal measure, depending on the result, is to be ignorant in the extreme.
Symcox says a team can only take lessons from a particular tournament, but as far as Domingo is concerned, he will now be scrutinised even more thoroughly by the media.
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