Deserving Maketa takes on crucial development role

Having been at the helm of the Warriors, assistant coach of the Proteas as well as in a consultancy role with the SA U-19 team, Maketa will now be able to put his stamp on the Proteas feeder side going forward.

Maketa’s role with the SA ‘A’ side and the National Acadely is an exciting one and the former Border player knows that he needs to make sure franchise players are ready to play for the Proteas.

“It’s great to be back in the system at Cricket South Africa, especially at an international level,” Maketa said. “Given where we are at the moment with the transition of the Proteas team I see my role as really important in assisting Mark Boucher and Enoch Nkwe in building our base of players.

“At the same time I’ll be working hand-in-hand with the high performance coaches in making sure we empower the players in terms of skill and game plans, as well as assisting in providing them with the tools to be successful at international level.

“There is going to be a lot of pressure on us in making sure that we bridge the gap between franchise cricket and international cricket.”

Maketa’s job is a crucial one in identifying the next generation of Proteas players and he understands the importance of finding talent and nurturing it through to international level.

“It’s going to be important for us that we plan well and assist in identifying players as it has been done in the past.

“We need to make sure we show them the path to the Proteas and it is something that I am looking forward to doing,” he added.

Director of Cricket Graeme Smith is excited to have the intellectual property of someone like Maketa involved in such a crucial capacity.

“Malibongwe has been involved in South African cricket for a very long time, I think he’s one of our outstanding coaches and I was really glad that he applied for the job and put his name in the hat,” Smith said. “With the team of High-Performance coaches around him, he has got a real opportunity to strengthen the pipeline. 

“The other thing about Malibongwe is that he has had a number of years with the national team and has worked in the A-team position as well. He is not only a really good coach, he is a good man, so I’m excited that he’ll be leading that department.”

Recently appointed Acting Head of Cricket Pathways Edward Khoza believes that they have the right man for the job in Maketa.

“We are fortunate that Malibongwe Maketa is the SA 'A' and National Academy head coach, but outside that he will be working across the High-Performance structure. This is to ensure that we share knowledge between the High-Performance coaches. 

"Malibongwe is quite an experienced coach with a Proteas background and a high level of franchise experience, and it’s important that a guy like that is working across our next-best talent. He will also be assisting the national women’s team where and when his expertise will be required."