Times Media
TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg
Having guided the Dolphins to their first title in seven seasons last summer, Lance Klusener would have been forgiven for thinking his job was safe.
However, a decision on Klusener’s long-term future as Dolphins coach was not taken at a KZN Cricket board meeting on Friday.
“There was uncertainty before the meeting, but Graham (Abrahams, who chairs the board) phoned me on Saturday and said they are willing to enter into negotiations,” Klusener said yesterday.
On February 28, Klusener’s initial two-year contract, which expired on April 30, was extended by a year. Board sources differ on whether a new deal for Klusener was due to be discussed at Friday’s meeting.
“Lance is very comfortable that his current contract will run until 2015,” Abrahams said. “He will have to sit down with the chief executive and the two deputy presidents and discuss a new contract. Hopefully we can give him a new contract that goes beyond 2015.”
Was the board satisfied with Klusener’s performance?
“We haven’t achieved all our goals, but we are happy with Lance,” Abrahams said. “We have no issues with him at all.”
Was Klusener’s asking price for a new deal more than the suits were willing to pay?
“We haven’t even started talking about that yet,” Klusener said.
Klusener made clear his wish to continue as coach after 2015: “We’ve started some good stuff with young players coming through and it would be good to see it through and reap the rewards.”
Once Klusener starts talking to the board, he may want to get to the bottom of the “uncertainty” he felt before his conversation with Abrahams on Saturday.
The T20 championship his team claimed last season was the first time they had won a trophy outright since they did the first-class and one-day double in 2001-02. In 2005-06, the Dolphins shared the first-class title with the Eagles.
Across all formats in 2013-14, Klusener’s second season in charge, the Dolphins won 14 of 30 matches and lost seven. That represents a mirror image of the previous season, when they won nine and lost 15.
The positive effect Klusener has had on the team he once played for has been recognised by his nomination for Cricket SA’s “Coach of the Year” award.
Jesse Chellan’s contract as chief executive of the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union expires in September. His future at Kingsmead seems less certain than Klusener’s.
Chellan has been at the sharp end of the game in one of SA’s most politically poisoned provinces for almost five years, and may have had enough.
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