New South Africa head coach expects players to prioritise national duty

Newly-appointed all-format head coach of the South Africa men’s cricket team, Shukri Conrad, expressed confidence in his players to prioritise national duty over franchise leagues as he looks to build white-ball teams for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 and the Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2007 at home.

Conrad, recently promoted from Test to all-format head coach on Friday, revealed that he had already started long-term planning with centrally contracted players, stating that they will be expected to turn up for South Africa whenever they play.

He also vowed that South Africa will never be a franchise team nor a convenience, sharing his plans of building a ‘culture and environment’ that players want to be part of.

"We're going to put out the best Proteas side every time we play," Conrad said at a press conference to announce his appointment on Friday.

"I've had conversations with our players, all-format players and guys that only play the one format that are contracted to us, that at every turn when the Proteas play, there's an expectation that they'll play for South Africa.

"The Proteas will never be a franchise team, the Proteas will never be a league, nor will it be a convenience. This is part of building a culture and building an environment that players want to be part of. Every single player is committed to that and wanting to be a part of it so I can quite comfortably say that at every turn the best Proteas side will be put out on the field."

Conrad’s comments came in light of South Africa’s upcoming packed calendar, particularly from mid-June to mid-December, during which they will play the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia and Test tours of Pakistan and India later in the year.

South Africa will tour Zimbabwe in July for two Tests and a T20I tri-series and will play three T20Is and three ODIs each in Australia and England in August and September.

These bilateral series, however, coincide with the Major League Cricket (MLC), The Hundred and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

As a result, Ryan Rickelton and Marco Jansen are both retained at the MLC, while David Miller, contracted to the Hundred, will face a fixture clash, but Shukri Conrad remained confident that, following discussions, they will prioritise national duty.