Rob Walter steps down as South Africa's white-ball coach

With the men's World Cup on its way to Southern Africa, the Proteas are suddenly in the market for a white-ball coach in the wake of Rob Walter's shock resignation.

The next ODI World Cup will be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in October and November 2027, or in two-and-a-half years' time. Winning the trophy - which South Africa have never done - has been the focus of much of CSA's planning in recent years.

Walter, who took up his four-year contract in March 2023, was central to that blueprint. But mounting criticism of his record in bilateral series and the strain of travelling from his home in New Zealand, which is more than 11,000 kilometres from South Africa, may have forced the rethink.

The news of Walter's resignation was broken by the online version of Rapport, an Afrikaans-language newspaper, at 3.31pm (SAT) on Tuesday and confirmed by CSA at the top of the next hour. A CSA release cited personal reasons for Walter's decision, which will take effect at the end of April.

"Coaching the Proteas has been an incredible honour, and I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together," the release quoted Walter as saying. "The players, support staff, and the South African cricketing community have been fantastic throughout this journey. While it's time for me to step away, I have no doubt that the team will continue to grow and reach even greater heights."

Walter is the only coach to take South Africa to the final of a men's World Cup; the 2024 T20 version in Barbados, where they lost to India by seven runs. He also guided them to the 2023 World Cup semifinal, and to the Champions Trophy semis in Pakistan in March.

His bilateral record isn't as impressive. South Africa won three of their seven ODI rubbers under Walter and drew another. But they lost a series to Afghanistan in the United Arab Emirates in September 2024, and suffered their only whitewash in their 56 home series in the format when Pakistan beat them 3-0 in December. Walter presided over just one success in his eight T20 rubbers in charge, one of them drawn.

In overall terms, South Africa won 19 of their 36 ODIs under Walter and 14 of their 31 T20Is. That translates into winning percentages of 52.78 and 45.16.

Walter's defence was that, because of his star players' commitments to franchise leagues, he was able to field full-strength XIs only in ICC events. That meant he had to spread the selectorial net wide.

Accordingly, 14 players were given ODI debuts by Walter, among them Gerald Coetzee, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and Kwena Maphaka. Dewald Brevis, Coetzee, Rickelton and Maphaka were among the 13 who earned their first T20I caps under Walter.

"He ensured that emerging players had the opportunity to develop and make their mark at the highest level, which will be critical for the future," the release quoted Enoch Nkwe, CSA's director of national teams and high performance, as saying.

Pholetsi Moseki, CSA's chief executive, was quoted as saying Walter's "professionalism and work ethic have been exemplary".

Now what? "A successor will be announced in due course," the release said. South Africa's next white-ball engagement is a T20I triangular in Zimbabwe involving New Zealand in July, which could be handled by a part-time coach. But CSA will surely want a permanent appointee in place for the ODI and T20 series in Australia in August and a similar visit to England in September.

So the search is on. Perhaps prospective candidates who live several time zones away from South Africa should think twice before applying.