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Cape Town - Former Proteas coach Ottis Gibson revealed that despite their disastrous Cricket World Cup, he was very happy with his coaching record with South Africa.
Gibson was in charge of the Proteas from 2017 to 2019 and parted ways with the team following their seventh-place finish at last year's World Cup in England.
However, the West Indian's track record for South Africa, particularly in red-ball cricket, was pretty impressive.
The Proteas under Gibson lost only four Test matches, however that did include a historic two-match Test home series defeat against Sri Lanka in 2019.
Overall, 2018 was the most difficult year for the former West Indian fast bowler, as South Africa finished with 19 wins and 15 losses across all formats.
However, the year that defined Gibson's role came in 2019 where he was hoping to end the Proteas' run of bad luck at the Cricket World Cup.
Unfortunately, the Proteas lost five of their nine games at the tournament and failed to make it to the knockout stages.
"I was very satisfied. Of course, the World Cup was a disaster, but I was very happy with everything that happened before the World Cup," Gibson told ESPNCricinfo.
"We won quite a lot of Tests. We beat India and Australia in Tests. It was the first time South Africa had beaten Australia at home (since readmission). We won a lot of ODI series leading up to the World Cup."
Gibson stated that he was chuffed with introducing new talent including Aiden Markram and Anrich Nortje into the Proteas set-up.
"I am very pleased with the time I had over there. I wish it had continued but it wasn't the case," said Gibson.
Following Gibson's departure, Cricket South Africa (CSA) appointed Enoch Nkwe as coach ahead their tour to India towards the end of 2019. South Africa were thrashed 3-0 in their Test series against a strong Virat Kohli-led side.
CSA then went through an administration crisis when various board members resigned and suspensions were given to interim Director of Cricket Corrie van Zyl and then CEO Thabang Moroe.
This resulted in various sponsors pulling out of their contracts and calls from various provincial cricket boards to see the entire CSA board step down.
In November, CSA appointed Jacques Faul as interim CEO and former Proteas captain Graeme Smith as Director of Cricket to steady the ship.
Smith went on to appoint former Proteas wicketkeeper batsman Mark Boucher as head coach until 2023.
Gibson's Proteas record from 2017-2019:
Tests: 11 won, 4 lost
ODIs: 23 won, 15 lost
T20s: 10 won, 4 lost, 1 tied
- Compiled by Lynn Butler
