Proteas coach Rob Walter resigns for 'personal reasons'. Who will replace him?

947's Robert Marawa speaks to Firdose Moonda of ESPNcricinfo.

Listen below:

Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter has stepped down from his position, citing personal reasons.

Walter will serve his final day as South Africa's national team coach on 30 April.

Walter, who has held the position since March 2023, has coached South Africa to several recent successes.

Under his leadership, the Proteas made history by reaching their first-ever ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final in 2024, where they finished as runners-up to India in Barbados.

A record run of eight consecutive wins underpinned the campaign with many other achievements under his belt.

"I think part of the reason was the difficulties of travel... Rob Walter lives in New Zealand. That's where his family is based and there's a lot of travel back and forth between the countries... So, I think maybe that was taking its toll... It's very far away. It's completely another time zone. So, oftentimes, Rob Walter would have to be up in the middle of the night in New Zealand to keep an eye on the cricket happenings in South Africa... So, I don't think that was easy and I think, similarly, the Cricket South Africa board would've wanted their coach to be based in South Africa...

- Firdose Moonda, ESPNcricinfo

"It's also difficult to ignore the pressure that Rob Walter faced for his bi-lateral series record... We have to stress here that bilateral white ball cricket at an international level is pretty much contextless now - you only really care about what happens at World Cups... So, the record in major tournaments was good but, bi-laterally losing to Afghanistan was a blemish, being white-washed by Pakistan at home was a blemish and I think the pressure was starting to take its toll." 

- Firdose Moonda, ESPNcricinfo

Current red ball coach Shukri Conrad is likely to replace Walter.

"The number one reason for this is that it would save Cricket South Africa money because they would only be paying one person instead of two. I also think familiarity would probably give him the edge... The only other names I could think of right now are people we've tried before."

- Firdose Moonda, ESPNcricinfo

"South Africa needs a coach now that they can appoint who will take them to the 2027 World Cup... You need a coach who's going to commit and stay the course."

- Firdose Moonda, ESPNcricinfo

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the conversation.