Jet: Shot down too soon?

Malaria alone does not account for every man who wakes in a cold sweat at night, trembling with stomach churning nausea. In South Africa those chilling symptoms are shared by every brave soul who shoulders the task of coaching a national sports team.

Cricket's affable Eric Simons? Took his own coaching 'life'. The hard-working Graham Ford? Unceremoniously ejected. The successful Nick Mallett? Forcibly removed. The initially expansive Harry Viljoen? Reduced to a defensive, incoherent wreck. The urbane Carlos Queiroz? Given the boot before Bafana could string a pass together in anger. Such is the demand for success in South African sport that a coach sleeping easily is a rarity. And yet continuous success has eluded the country's major sporting codes in the last few years. Even our national cricket side, once the pace-setters in one-day cricket and powerful on the Test stage too, has started to falter.

Mickey Arthur, South Africa's young -- in age and experience - incumbent coach, can rest peacefully for the time being. But it's probably best that he sleeps with one eye open.

A string of poor Test results have been offset by some fine ODI performances, most notably a 4-0 clipping of New Zealand and the exhilarating series win over Australia (both at home, it should be noted).

Progressing to the Champions Trophy semifinals on the back of vintage Polly and the now indispensable Makhaya Ntini ought to see Arthur safely to the World Cup next year. His predecessor, Ray Jennings, had no such opportunity. 'Jet' came in to plug the gap after Simons stepped down in 2004. His contract was a six-month affair that many expected to last longer. It didn't. After a shoddy start against India and England (only in Tests; his ODI team pasted the English 4-1), Jennings seemingly started pulling the pieces together in the West Indies.

A victorious Test series main course preceded the delicious dessert of a 5-0 ODI series white-washing. There appeared to be momentum ... and then Jennings was gone. Arthur, by comparison, has enjoyed a miserable Test time, notching up a damning two wins in 11 games. His team's ODI performances -- although marked by inconsistency in the VB Series and Champions Trophy -- make for better reading. But only just.

Jennings, with his ego-bruisingly brusque manner, dedication to discipline and unnerving moustache, was far from perfect. But the question begs asking: was the former Mean Machine 'keeper ushered out of the Proteas' back door a little too hastily? Was his tough love approach not the right tonic for a team that sometimes looks just a little too nonchalant in its complacency?

Clive Rice, in typically forthright mode, seems to think so. It's the former SA skipper's opinion that Jennings, although invited to apply for the coaching post permanently at the end of his six-month stint, was never going to last longer than the tally of days stipulated on his original contract.

"When Ray got the job I told him he would see the door after six months," says Rice. He argues that Jennings' personality was too strong for certain elements within the South African cricket camp.

"Too often we accept mediocrity in South African cricket and a guy like Jennings doesn't tolerate that. Right now mediocrity is the order of the day and everyone seems to be happy with that."

Perhaps a more sober endorsement of the 'Jennings Way' comes from HD Ackerman. The former Western Province captain, who's enjoying an enchanted twilight to his career, worked with Jennings at South Africa 'A' level.

"Ray was an excellent SA 'A' coach," says Ackerman. "He was the best fielding coach I've ever had. I was playing for SA 'A' at the age of 31 and I was probably fielding the best I ever had in my career. You had to. His focus on discipline is unwavering. I didn't want to let a ball through my legs and then end up running the rest of the afternoon."

Because of Jennings' penchant for cracking the whip, and rarely sparing the rod, Ackerman believes that his value lies best in coaching 'A' teams or preparing younger South African representative sides.

"Ray will hate me for saying this, because he wants to be the best and coach the best, but I think his talent lies in preparing fringe players for international cricket." It's no secret that Jennings rules with an iron fist -- a management style, Ackerman concurs, which doesn't always sit easily with the top players in a national set-up. "But when you're on the outskirts of the national side and you're playing in the 'A' team then you need to listen to what he has to say. I knew I wasn't playing at a level good enough to make the Proteas team so I did what Ray said. You either do that or you fall by the wayside.

And if you can't handle his blunt approach then maybe you're not the guy who's ever going to play for South Africa." Before Jennings was set on his merry way, and handed down to a squad of quivering South African U19 cricketers, there were rumblings that the coach had lost the support of his national side.

Of course, his comments like "some players need a kick up the backside" and "I am not anti-Herschelle, I am anti guys who are lazy" on assuming the mantle of national coach presumably didn't help seal his bond with all in the South African top order.

Arthur's first uttering of "my style is poles apart to Ray's" upon accepting the job was far less inflammatory and arguably allowed those flustered by Jennings to settle back into the old, comfortable ennui at the head of the Proteas side.

But no-one since has spoken out about what was wrong with Jennings and his methods. Indeed, Mark Boucher and André Nel have just recently sung the praises of their erstwhile coach.

Boucher has been one of South Africa's most consistent players in the last two years. His 'keeping has been crisp while his batting in the lower order is almost expected to net the side a rapid-fire 50 in an ODI, or hold the tail together in a Test.

Prior to the Champions Trophy, Boucher told Cricinfo that much of his recent success was due to the influence of Jennings. "I owe Ray a lot," he said at the time. "We did not get on too well at the start, but now our relationship is very good. We have a lot of respect for each other since we worked together. He taught me to be proud of whatever I do." And the results are telling.

Nel, who famously first hit the headlines after he 'beaned' Allan Donald under instruction from Jennings in a first-class match, routinely credits his former provincial mentor for his success at international level.

After a slump in form, Nel turned to Jennings for advice and returned, he believed, a fitter and faster bowler. "Ray and I didn't even do a lot of bowling. We watched videos of my action and we talked a lot," he told news24.com. "He's the guy who knows my bowling the best and he saw small things I didn't notice. I tried to bowl too quickly to make up for whatever was wrong."

A senior provincial cricketer who has first-hand experience playing for Jennings (and who also asked politely to keep his name out of the limelight) says it's no surprise that players like Boucher and Nel responded to Jennings.

"Those kind of hard-nosed players can handle it," says the source with a very respectable first-class record. "They often even thrive on the confrontation. But I'm not sure that his approach to coaching is best for everyone in the team. Ray gets results, there's no doubt about that, but I don't always believe in his methods."

The anonymous cricketer believes that Jennings will ruffle feathers and get results, but only in the short-term.

Echoing the sentiments of Ackerman, he adds: "He's a brilliant fielding coach, one of the best, but I don't think he would last long at international level. His 'my way or the high way' approach is never going to help Jacques Kallis iron out a batting flaw ..."

Ackerman agrees. "A good coach needs to have excellent man-management skills to coax the best out of players. The best technical coaches should always be on top of that so they can fix something when it goes haywire.

"I've never played under Mickey, but as an observer it seems like he's getting the guys to think on their feet." A neutral observation is offered by former Springbok coach Nick Mallett. Mallett is a keen cricket follower and played to a decent level in his youth; his expertise, though, clearly lies in the fundamentals of coaching.

"If you look at rugby and cricket, the difference is that you rarely hear about the coaches in cricket. If a rugby team is floundering, the coach gets blamed. When a cricket side is struggling people just gun for the captain.

"Take a guy like John Buchanan of Australia. He seems to have a very low media profile. Ricky Ponting and Australia's results do the talking. That seems to be the way South Africa is heading, not with the results yet, but it looks like Mickey Arthur is happy to sit back and let Graeme Smith do the talking."

Some commentators suggest that Smith's personality is too strong and might override Arthur's. Mallett, however, suggests that a strong leader is the key to a winning team. "You need someone who can unite a team. In a South African sports team there are guys from private schools, privileged homes, under-privileged homes, there are men of differing religions, different languages, different cultures. We don't have the luxury of 11 English-speaking Australians. That's why a strong leader is important.

"I learnt that when I dropped Gary Teichmann. He had the respect of everyone in the team. He represented them all. I found it difficult to replace a guy like that. As an observer of cricket, and someone who has worked with strong personalities, I think that Graeme Smith has those same characteristics. I think he unites the side with his leadership."

The success or failure of a coach, says Mallett, will depend on his ability to work with the different characters of a national team. "Being able to see that every player is different and having the ability to reach every player on that level is the making of a good coach. I don't know Mickey, but if he's that kind of manager then the national cricket side will only get stronger in time."

Rice isn't convinced. "There was talk that Ray never got the job permanently because he was unpopular. That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard. A coach isn't meant to be popular."

Rice points to South Africa's steep decline in the Test rankings as a sign that not all is well behind the scenes in SA cricket. "Our Test team is shoddy. We even slipped down the ODI rankings, alarmingly at one stage. There seems to be a lot of back-slapping and pandering to egos in the team. Look at the Champions Trophy. Our top order was nowhere. I'm not pointing fingers at Mickey.

It's the whole structure that's rotten. There's bad management at the top and it's working its way down to the team.