Added bite to Redbacks' leadership saga

Johan Botha has confirmed he was told he would not be part of South Australia’s plans for next season and beyond prior to deciding to relinquish the captaincy of the Redbacks.

At a media conference in Adelaide today to confirm 21-year-old batsman Travis Head’s appointment as skipper with immediate effect, Botha claimed he decided during the recent KFC Big Bash League tournament to step down from the leadership job he’s held since 2012.

Quick Single: Redbacks confirm Travis Head as skipper

But the former South African Test and limited-overs player revealed he was informed during the last Bupa Sheffield Shield match before that mid-season hiatus that his three-year contract with the West End Redbacks that expires at season’s end would not be renewed.

It came at a traumatic time for South Australian cricket that had been left distraught by the death of their best batsman Phillip Hughes with many of the players unsure if they were emotionally and physically ready to return to playing two weeks after that incident in Sydney.

Botha, the 32-year-old off-spinner who was lured to Adelaide by Redbacks and Adelaide Strikers coach Darren Berry to instil some steel in the team’s spine, said while that news did not trigger his decision it played a part in his eventual call to step aside.

“I got told during the four-day game in Tasmania that the Redbacks won’t be moving forward with me, so that – not helped with the decision – but it made me think even more about it,” Botha said today.

“I’ve enjoyed my time here, I’ll always be thankful for the three years I’ve had here, it was a great opportunity to work with a great bunch of players and a great coaching staff.

“Down in Tassie, that was a tough game for the players who went out there on the field and credit to all of them.

“I know the result didn’t go our way, but the boys stuck at it for two days and I think that third innings (when Tasmania batted a second time before SA were bowled out for 45) was just a little bit too far and too quick.”

Head becomes the youngest captain in SA’s 122-year first-class history and was elevated to the role ahead of more senior teammates including Callum Ferguson, Tom Cooper and Tim Ludeman despite a batting average below 30 in a three-year first-class career that has yet to yield a century.

Head said he would continue to work closely with Botha who will remain around the team until season’s end, and added he felt that he was ready and under no additional pressure to lead the group in spite of his comparative youth and inexperience.

“When I captained (at junior levels) I’ve got runs and I haven’t got runs, so it’s not going to happen every time – I know that,” the left-hander said today.

“I enjoyed my time as captain of (the SA) under-19s, and played with blokes who are pushing their way into the side now.

“We’re going to play the exact same brand of cricket … with fast, attacking bowlers and hard-hitting batters.

“It’s been a tough two months and the Big Bash probably came at the right time for some blokes, they found some form and had some really good fun playing cricket again.

“I guess we come back and it’s a fresh start, but we’ve done so much work over the past two seasons nothing really goes to waste now and nothing really changes.”

Head, who led South Australia to the national under-19 title in 2012-13 and was a member of Australia’s 2012 under-19 World Cup squad with recent internationals Ashton Agar and Gurinder Sandhu, will skipper the Redbacks in the Shield match that starts in Perth on Saturday.

But the SA squad for that game has yet to be announced, and Botha claimed he was unsure if he would be selected though he expected promising young leg-spinner Adam Zampa to get the nod ahead of him now that he is no longer captain.

“I think Adam Zampa has been the best spinner in Australia this summer, in the (Matador Cup) one-dayers he was exceptional and in the Big Bash he was the same,” Botha said.

“So I expect Zamps to come up and be our number one spinner, and that’s good for South Australia, for Cricket Australia and whenever in the next five games they (the Redbacks) want two spinners or they feel they need to change the team slightly I’m available until the end of the season.

“I want to see out my contract, I don’t want to stop half way.”

Botha said he relayed his decision to stand aside as captain during talks with SA Cricket Association Chief Executive Keith Bradshaw last Friday, and Head’s appointment was then ratified by the SACA Board last night.

Berry, who has taken leave for an unspecified period for personal reasons, was not consulted over the decision but Bradshaw claimed that was done out of respect for the coach’s current situation.

Image Id: ~/media/BA72D0EFEE804C70A331106290205E49

Darren Berry was not contacted over the issue of Head's appointment // Getty Images

“We know Darren’s thoughts without question, in terms of his support for Travis as a player, in terms of how highly he regards Travis,” Bradshaw said today.

“We’re entirely comfortable and confident in Travis’s ability to not only play but also as a leader.

“We’re fortunate to have very good leaders in the group and some very good players, but we just felt that Travis was a stand-out and hence the appointment.

“(But) no we didn’t ring Darren, we’re respecting his privacy and believe that’s how it should be right now.”

Bradshaw reiterated that even though he was on leave Berry remained the coach of both the Redbacks and the Strikers, and that he was contracted in those roles until the end of next (2015-16) summer.

And while Botha won’t be involved with the Redbacks from the end of this season, he and his family will remain in Australia and he hopes to once more team up with Berry as part of the Adelaide Strikers’ roster for next summer’s BBL competition.

“He’s the one who got me here two and half years ago and I think he’s the best coach I’ve ever worked with,” Botha said of Berry today.

“There’s a lot of respect between us two and I’ve loved working with Chuck (Berry), and obviously I would tell him what I’m thinking and where I’m going.

“His message was ‘do what you feel is right, I don’t want you to carry on if you’re not up for it any more’.

“I explained all the reasons (for standing down) and he was very supportive and just said to me first of all well done on coming over here two and half years ago, and that he enjoyed working with me.

“And we hope to continue with the Strikers.”