Knights coach in fight to prove worth

Domestic cricket competitions provide a place for players to audition for higher honours, but for the rest of the South African summer, the trial will extend to at least one other person as Sarel Cilliers, coach of the Knights franchise, gears up for a fight to prove his worth.

Cilliers' contract with the Bloemfontein-based franchise expires at the end of March 2015 and he has not been offered an extension. Instead, Knights have put out a job advertisement for his post, which they plan to fill once the season ends. Cilliers confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he will be reapplying for the job he has been in for the last five years but knows he will need the team to deliver strong results for him to be successful.

"It's important that we get a few trophies," Cilliers said. "We've produced some players for the national side, we've lost some players and we've been rebuilding but we have to win as well."

Knights' last triumph came four seasons ago in 2010-11, when they were victorious in what was then a 40-over, limited-overs competition. That was the last in a long line of success that had stretched for seven seasons during which the team claimed six trophies.

Despite their drought in subsequent seasons, they remained a competitive force thanks to the likes of Dean Elgar, Rilee Rossouw and Reeza Hendricks, who were always among the country's top run-scorers, and the experience of Johan van der Wath, Quinton Friend and Dillon du Preez, who kept their attack incisive. More recently though, other outfits have emerged stronger, while the Knights have stagnated and their stability has been shaken.

Two season ago, Morne van Wyk moved to Dolphins and this summer, Ryan McLaren followed him while Elgar has joined Titans. Van der Wath has retired and recent national call-ups for Rossouw and Hendricks have added to the side's resource depletion. "We have to try very hard to keep the culture going," Cilliers explained. "And that's not always easy."

Knights have also struggled to attract players and Cilliers did not shy away the reasons: "We haven't got a sea or a mountain or any of those things guys want here in Bloemfontein. It's very different to the coastal areas or the big cities. If players are not from here, they don't play here."

As Bloemfontein does not have the pull of the other cities where franchises are based - Johannesburg, Centurion, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban - Knights have to rely on the school system for a pipeline. Establishments like Grey College, the alma mater of Kepler Wessels and McLaren, and St Andrews, provide that but recent trends show the situation could change. Talented schoolboys at sports-oriented establishments often excel at both cricket and rugby and Cilliers admitted the "financial side of rugby" ends up being more attractive to them. As a result, Knights "haven't had the production line we would have liked" and are now searching for answers.

Former national player Nicky Boje may provide some. He has started an academy in Bloemfontein with a view to keeping promising cricketers in the system but Cilliers admits there's more to be done and he would know. The coach has been involved with Free State cricket since 2002, before the franchise system formed. When Free State merged with Griquas to become the Eagles (the predecessor to the Knights), Cilliers acted as an assistant to Corrie van Zyl, who went on to coach South Africa and now heads the National Performance Programme.

It was on van Zyl's promotion that Cilliers was appointed and he has occupied the post since but has only managed one trophy in his tenure, and pressure is mounting on him to produce. For that, Cilliers need the current crop to step up and so far, the signs are fairly positive.

Knights are currently on top of the first-class competition points table after two rounds and are the only franchise to have won both their games so far. They also enjoyed a winning start to the 20-over tournament with a 74-run victory over Warriors on Sunday. That event is still in its infancy and with their other limited-overs competition results - second from bottom in the 50-over cup with just one win from six matches - Cilliers does not want to get ahead of himself.

"There is still a lot of cricket to be played this season," he said. "But I hope it all goes well and then we will see."

Applications for the position close on December 15, with the appointment expected to be finalised by March.