David Bedingham back as Salieg Nackerdien hungry for more Western Province trophies

Western Province has been under immense pressure in the past decade as the senior team went through a lengthy trophy drought, while the quality of the administration in the union also went on a downward spiral.

However, coach Salieg Nackerdien has turned the ship around since taking over the role of head coach, as the senior team reached three domestic finals in the past three years and has gone on to add a trophy to the cabinet.

With Kyle Verreynne captaining the side, Province started the season with an unbeaten run in the 50-over 1-Day Cup competition, winning the title in dominant fashion.

However, the side failed to get over the line in the Four-Day Series final in Johannesburg last week as the Lions emerged victorious at the Bullring.

Despite losing the first-class final, Nackerdien is looking at the bigger picture – that the team has finally turned the corner and is heading in the right direction, especially with the third competition of the season, the Cricket SA T20 Challenge, starting tomorrow against the Dolphins at Kingsmead in Durban (6pm start).

“Personally for me, not getting into the final and not getting over the line was a bit disappointing. If you look at last season, we were on top and we lost total control in terms of the last couple of games in the four-day competition. This year, we addressed it, and it was just the opposite,” Nackerdien told the media at Newlands yesterday.

“The expectations are still high for Western Province to win a trophy, and I said it last year that I’m putting my head on the chopping block that we will get some silverware in the cabinet.

“We were close to the second one, but for me (it matters more that) we strived to get better all the time. It’s not like we want to be complacent now ... We want to be hungry for more trophies.

“When it comes to finals, we need to learn from these three finals in the last two years that we were in.

“It was a massive contribution from the squad, the way that we played and the brand that we played especially this season.

“For me, I see that there’s better things to come. The team is growing, the senior players are playing their part, and I think that people will see the growth.

“We want to keep winning as well, whether it will be two trophies or not. Someone said to me the other day, ‘Are you going for the treble?’

“But I told them not to talk too early, and that was before the Four-Day Series final.

“Me sitting in this position, I’m here to do a job. When I leave, I want to make sure that the team is in a better place, as well as the union.

“This union needs to be sustainable for long periods of time (and get back to) where we were 10 years ago with the Cobras set-up.

“I think we are on the right track. We just need to keep evolving in terms of our processes and not get complacent.”

Province will be boosted by the availability of Proteas Test batter David Bedingham for the duration of the T20 Challenge.

Disappointingly, former captain Wayne Parnell will miss the tournament opener in Durban tomorrow due to an illness, and possibly the home fixture against the Tuskers at Newlands on Sunday (2pm start) as well.

All-rounder George Linde will join up with the Province squad from March 10 from the Pakistan Super League, where he currently plies his trade for the Lahore Qalandars.

Western Province Squad

Kyle Verreynne (captain), Tony de Zorzi, Abdallah Bayoumy, Beuran Hendricks, Dane Paterson, Daniel Smith, Gavin Kaplan, George Linde, Kyle Simmonds, Mihlali Mpongwana, Nandré Burger, Wayne Parnell, Mthiwekhaya Nabe, Wesley Bedja, Eddie Moore, Onke Nyaku, David Bedingham, Jono Bird.