Vincent Barnes, the former national bowling coach for the Proteas team, stated that the players achieve success through their own merits, yet he emphasized that transformation goals remain significant. These comments were made by him during the podcast Crossing the Line with Roland Fisher.
Work in Cricket South Africa
Barnes believes that significant work is being done in Cricket South Africa to create opportunities for athletes who might not have had such chances before. He noted that although this may be reluctant to admit, transformation goals still exist for substantial reasons. At the same time, he is confident that players who go through the system and make it into provincial and national teams do so purely based on their abilities.
Coach's Experience and Career
During an extensive interview, Barnes discussed his choice between professional cricket and football during the peak of his career. He shared stories about debuting for provincial teams at the age of sixteen in both cricket and football. Furthermore, he spoke about working with some of the best bowlers in the history of South African cricket and his current involvement as the head of the SA20 school program.
He recalled the words of Gerald Majolo, then CEO of Cricket SA, who warned him that as an assistant coach for the Proteas, he would enter an environment where one could not hide. Barnes agreed with this, stating that any young cricketer aspiring to be a Protea member must understand that regardless of skin color, there is no place to hide here. He added that playing against the world's best in adverse or unfamiliar conditions requires complete dedication.
Professional Activities After Cricket SA
In 2023, Barnes left Cricket SA, holding the position of manager for their high-performance program. Together with his friend, Ashwell Prince, a former batsman and captain of the Proteas, he founded a foundation and a cricket academy. Later, he was invited by Graham Smith, another former batsman and captain of the Proteas who now leads SA20, to revive the national school program that had been suspended several years ago. Barnes reported that he is closely collaborating with Cricket South Africa on a new nationwide school competition league that includes boys and girls, and that 561 schools participated in it last year.
Working with Cricket Legends
When Barnes was the bowling coach for the Proteas, the South African men's national cricket team featured some of the world's best bowlers, including Shaun Pollock, Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini, Morne Morkel, and Vernon Philander, many of whom achieved world-class status. He called them all phenomenal and expressed pleasure in working with them. Barnes noted that he developed a particularly good relationship with Dale Steyn, perhaps because he knew him from a young age and they had a lot in common. He also mentioned working with players like Andre Nel, Andrew Hall, and Carl Langeveldt, and having the opportunity to help them develop their careers.
Principles and Apartheid
Barnes, who played provincial cricket and football in a non-racial environment during his youth, accepted that he would never be able to represent South Africa during the apartheid era when he was at his prime. He firmly believed that as long as apartheid existed in South Africa, he would never play for his country, and nothing would change that. Despite offers from white clubs in Cape Town, he declined them because he was very serious about his principles, understanding that his participation in sports was impossible until apartheid was abolished.
