Ford returns as Natal coach

Ford, who has been Director of Playing Affairs since the beginning of last season, takes over his old job as his successor, Frans Cronje, has agreed to shift to the role of director of amateur cricket (academy, U19 and development) following a largely unsuccessful current campaign.

Cassim Docrat, Natal cricket's chief executive officer, said the move came about due to the restructuring of the playing affairs department into amateur and professional sections.

``Right at the start of the season we approached Frans and spoke to him about taking over the reins of amateur cricket as it is a problem area we needed to address. He didn't feel the time was right then, but obviously the team's performances this season have caused us to look at the situation again,'' Docrat said yesterday.

``The ball was in his court and Frans could have stayed on as A team coach as he was still contracted to do that. But he acted in the best interests of the team and the union, and the switching of roles has happened without any animosity.''

The Natal team has languished at the bottom of the SuperSport Series log this season, only improving their position with last weekend's win over Boland, when Ford returned to the A team changeroom.

Cronje said yesterday that he had agreed to the shift because ``I want the best for the team''.

``Obviously I have been disappointed that the side has not been playing as well as I would have liked. I've spoken to Benky (Natal captain Dale Benkenstein) and he said there were two or three guys who were out of form and the attitude in the team was tending to be negative. They felt Fordie was the only guy able to help them.

``It was as much my decision to go as anyone else's. We had to change the playing affairs structure and Graham has been really successful with the A side in the past while my heart is in the development side of things.''

Cronje attributed Natal's on-field troubles this season to ``lots of little things''.

``We've had some very disruptive injuries and also Dale hasn't always been around. In other years he's been there from the start of the season and involved in the preparation of the team right the way through, taking over from the coach during matches. But this season he's been away a lot of the time and, although Errol Stewart's done a great job, he's just standing in and hasn't been involved from the start of the season.

``We also have more political problems behind the scenes than other provinces and the things some people write certainly upsets the players too.

``The players have one bad game and they start doubting. Once they get on a losing streak they tend to look for scapegoats and they seldom nominate themselves.''

While the return of Ford should please several of the senior players whose development was guided by him, the former Maritzburg Varsity coach said his aim was to get the team playing to their potential as quickly as possible.

``There's a lot of work to be done and we've got to get the players believing in themselves again. We may not be in the running for the SuperSport Series trophy anymore, but now is the time to start gearing up for next season.''