His efforts were lauded by all those who matter in South African cricket. He was ably rewarded, too. The United Cricket Board of South Africa appointed him coach of his country's A team that toured Sri Lanka in 1998.
This was followed by his elevation as an understudy to the South African team coach Bob Woolmer in New Zealand in early
1999. He was also made Woolmer's assistant for the 1999 World Cup in England.
The crowning glory for Ford came after the World Cup, where South Africa lost in the nail-biting semi-final at Edgbaston in Birmingham, when Woolmer's contract ended. He struck a fine rapport with Hansie Cronje and probably never knew about the former South African captain's active involvement in match-fixing. When he did, after the Cronje confession in 2000, he was "sad and disappointed" and "stunned".
He became the national coach at a time when the reverse kind of apartheid had just begun to take place in South Africa. More and more black players were included in the national side regardless of their merits. The captain and the coach had hardly any say in the selection of the team.
Ford somehow couldn't enjoy as good a rapport with the new skipper, Pollock, as he did with Cronje. And it, in addition to the petty politics that is rampant in South African cricket since the beginning of the new millennium, reflected in the team's performance.
Top: Ford with Pollock (centre) and Hansie Cronje (right) at a press conference
Advertisement
