JP Duminy Appointed As Head Coach Of South Africa's Provincial Side, Boland

JP Duminy, a former South African batsman, has been named the head coach of provincial team Boland on a two-year contract.

After acting as batting consultant for the Lions franchise and, temporarily, for the national men’s squad at the T20 World Cup, this is Duminy’s first job as head coach.

JP Duminy Excited About New Role

“I’m very excited, nervous and have all these emotions popping up. It’s a great opportunity to get into the coaching space after playing.

Boland is close to my heart. It has been down the road for many years and, playing for the Cobras [in the franchise system], we spent a lot of time down in Boland,” said Duminy as reported by ESPNcricinfo.

“The people in Boland mean a lot to me and hopefully this is an opportunity for us to get out into the community and get the team closer to the community once again and represent the people.

I want to be a big part of that and get the players to understand what it means to represent the community. That’s a big part of Boland and it extends far and wide beyond Paarl. That’s a big thing for me,” he added.

Man Management One Of The Biggest Strengths Of JP Duminy: James Fortuin

Duminy played 46 Tests, 199 ODIS, and 81 T20ls for South Africa before retiring after the 2019 World Cup. One of the reasons Boland selected him was because he spent his whole playing career in the Western Cape and has a solid awareness of the local cricketing environment as well as a good connection with many of the players.

“One of his biggest strengths is man-management. People like him. He has a huge amount of experience and brings a lot to the role,” said James Fortuin, CEO of Boland Cricket.

Duminy succeeds former coach Adrian Birrell, who made sure “that we signed some great players like the Malan brothers (Pieter and Janneman).” According to Fortuin. Kyle Abbott is also a client of Boland. Birrell, who previously coached at Hampshire, where Abbott was on a Kolpak deal, helped Abbott join the province.

The Boland squad, under the Paarl Rocks name, also won the 2019 Mzansi Super League, an event that displayed Boland’s cricketing culture with sold-out matches at their 10,000-seater venue, under Birrell’s leadership. During Duminy’s tenure, he wants the squad to play for the community.

Duminy joins the roster of former international players coaching in the top level, which includes Robin Peterson of the Warriors and Imran Khan of the Dolphins.

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