South Africa: Jennings fired as Gauteng coaching manager (5 February 1999)

5 February 1999

South Africa: Jennings fired as Gauteng coaching manager

Trevor Chesterfield

BLOEMFONTEIN - Although there could an argument about the interpretation of the wording Ray Jennings has been fired as Gauteng's manager of senior coaching affairs.

That is the sum total of a media release issued by the Gauteng Cricket Board at Springbok Park yesterday while the board's president, Barry Skjoldhammer, did his best to cushion the blow for the former world-class wicketkeeper, and of whom, it was said, rubbed people "up the wrong way" during his time in the post. Jennings handled the port folio which co-ordinated the Gauteng A, B and under/19 team structures.

A GCB meeting held Thursday night at which 14 board members were present decided, without the issue going to a vote, "not to renew the contract of Ray Jennings when expires at the end of March".

Apart from the GCB statement underlining their desire to follow the "transformation of South African cricket" the comment was made that Gauteng were reassessing from "a management and financial point of view" the province's senior structures.

Skjoldhammer said that as any number of provinces were facing "a cash crisis" and although Gauteng were better off than most the view was there was no longer a place for the man who played for both Guateng and later Northerns.

"Ray's uncompromising approach in facing difficulties has not always endeared him to people universally and may, in some cases have been interpreted by some as inflexibility, especially in some of the sensitive issues faced by (cricket) and all sports administrators in South Africa today," Skjoldhammer said.

While his professional approach had long been admired his public relations skills had its problems.

One of the criticisms of his administration was that not enough "players of colour" were being fast tracked into the senior system.

Jennings indicated the other day he was being seen as "the bad guy" but was confident there were structures in place which would one day prove his approach had been the correct one.

Source :: Trevor Chesterfield, Pretoria News