Rob Walter resigns as South Africa white-ball coach

Rob Walter, South Africa's white-ball coach, has resigned two years into his four-year contract. Walter was initially due to take South Africa to the 2027 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

CSA cited personal reasons for Walter's stepping down while ESPNcricinfo understands that the pressure Walter faced over his bilateral record, as well as the continuous travel from New Zealand, where Walter lives, were starting to take a toll.

"Coaching the Proteas has been an incredible honour, and I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together," Walter said in a release. "The players, support staff, and the South African cricketing community have been fantastic throughout this journey. While it's time for me to step away, I have no doubt that the team will continue to grow and reach even greater heights."

Under Walter, South Africa qualified for their first men's World Cup final, at the T20 World Cup in 2024, and the semi-finals of the 2023 ODI World Cup and last month's Champions Trophy. But bilaterally, his record has been poor. In his tenure, South Africa played seven bilateral ODI series and lost three, including their first whitewash to Pakistan. They also played eight T20I series and won just one.

Walter always offered the caveat that he very rarely had full-strength sides available to him in bilateral cricket as players were rested, given permission to play in franchise leagues or prioritised for other formats but the context was often lost against the backdrop of bad results.

Walter also faced criticism over his transformation record, in particular the selection of a squad with one black African player, Kagiso Rabada, at the T20 World Cup. Director of Cricket Enoch Nkwe backed Walter's selection (South Africa do not have a selection panel and leave those decisions to the coach) and also commended the work Walter did in awarding new caps. Across two years, Walter awarded 14 new ODI caps including Gerald Coetzee, Tristan Stubbs and Ryan Rickelton, and 13 T20I caps of which Kwena Maphaka was one, and has helped identify a talent pool for South Africa to work with.

"It is also important to recognise Rob's commitment to expanding the talent pool across both formats. While in charge, he ensured that emerging players had the opportunity to develop and make their mark at the highest level, which will be critical for the future of the Proteas," Nkwe said, and confirmed Walter's successor will take South Africa to the 2027 tournament. "We have a busy period of white-ball cricket over the next two years as we build towards the Cricket World Cup on home soil. His successor will continue to work towards that 50-over World Cup campaign, along with next year's T20 World Cup."

There are no clear contenders for the job but the conversation could include former South Africa spin bowler Robin Peterson, who successfully led MI Cape Town to the SA20 title earlier this year and coaches the Warriors franchise (though they were recently docked points for failing to meet transformation targets). Nkwe has previously coached South Africa and could reintroduce himself in some capacity or ask red-ball coach Shukri Conrad to step in, as he did in January 2023, when South Africa hosted England.

Conrad has taken the team to the World Test Championship final, which is South Africa's next assignment in June, and if the team opts for a consolidated role, he may also be given responsibility of the white-ball teams. The ODI and T20I sides will play against Zimbabwe in July before tours to Australia and England and five home T20Is against West Indies ahead of next year's T20 World Cup.