South Africa need to 'strategise' around choking problem - Kirsten

Gary Kirsten, the South Africa coach, has said his team needs to "strategise" around the problem of squandering winning positions to lose in crunch matches - one that has earned it the 'chokers' tag from many quarters ever since the tie against Australia in the 1999 World Cup semi-final.

"You need to have some sort of a strategy around it," Kirsten said in an interview on ESPNcricinfo Weekly. "You can't just be naïve to think it's not a problem and doesn't exist. There's been a bit of scarring there and it's been going on for a long time.

"But then you need to think cleverly and think smart about how you manage that issue. I think it is something that we'll focus on when we get to those events and work out ways in which we can strategise to cross the line."

The problem has hit South Africa hard in several major tournaments, including the World Cup this year when they went down to New Zealand in the quarter-final. Kirsten, who was named South Africa coach in June following a successful stint with India that culminated in a World Cup victory, said his aim was to restore the South African team to the top in world cricket.

"We all believe that we're a good enough cricket team to be at the top of the pile," he said. "That's where we're wanting to head. We've got to achieve some good results along the way, make sure that we're competitive in every series we play. There's no doubt there's enough skill and ability in the team to vie for a position at the top of world cricket."

Kirsten also admitted disappointment at India's performance in England, where they were thrashed 0-4 in the Tests and 0-3 in the ODIs. When asked about what went wrong for them on the tour, Kirsten said: "I'm not sure. I'm not in the environment. It's been a little bit sad to watch them not play well because there was much anticipation around that series in England. Also with Duncan coming in as new coach and he's just been there for a couple of months, he needs to stamp his mark about what he's going to do. I guess it was always going to be a difficult time upfront.

"But it has surprised me. The injuries haven't helped. For me, they're a good enough cricket team that they can come back. It has been a disappointment. They probably lost a bit of momentum."

Kirsten also praised England for their dominance. "England are a quality cricket team. They are well coached, have a good structure, good people, they have stability in their team and are putting India under pressure. I don't think they'd been put under pressure [by India] in the whole series."