Sunfoil Dolphins unveil new coach

The former KZN Inland coach returns to the province after serving as assistant coach to the Warriors over the past year. It will be the 44-year-old’s first ever head coach role at franchise level.

After a lacklustre season under former coach Lance Klusener, the Dolphins will be looking to rebuild. That will be a difficult task after a recent player exodus. Their frontline Proteas players David Miller and Kyle Abbott have moved on to greener pastures, while a handful of experienced personnel have also left Durban.

That is why it is fitting that Morgan, who was credited with turning around an ailing KZN Inland outfit a few years ago, returns to the setup to rebuild a team around a couple of core players. According to Dolphins CEO Pete de Wet, Morgan was the right choice.

“We’re very happy to welcome Grant on board. We went through a rigorous process to get to this point. Grant comes with many years of coaching experience and we’re looking forward to him having this opportunity at franchise level and to test himself at the next level,” De Wet said.

“We had a breakfast with some of our senior players this morning and they’re all happy with the appointment and there seems to be a good rapport between them and Grant. He’s been around and in some instances coached some of these guys before. It all bodes well for us and I’m looking forward to the role he will play and the next chapter of Dolphins cricket.”

With a wealth of coaching experience across the board, Morgan could be the right candidate to build up a very green Dolphins squad. That seems to be the general consensus around Sahara Stadium Kingsmead and Morgan believes he is the man to do the job.

“Entering different environments means you have to learn how to deal with new talent,” Morgan said.

“That’s exciting, to be part of making the decisions of how you are going to build this thing. I’ve got the experience, having been in so many different cultures, that hopefully I’ll be able to mould the young talent with the older talent. That is ultimately what it is about, finding that mix between the oldest guy and youngest guy.

“I’ve always been of the belief if a guy is 44, a guy like Brad Hogg, and he’s still delivering to the team, still wants to play and is the best guy for that roll in the team he must be there.

“Just like a Quinton de Kock, who I remember bringing into my Strikers side as a 15-year-old playing a game against Durham where he faced Steve Harmison. When he walked off the field, the score was 85 for 1 and he had made 72 runs and that was one of the greatest days of my life – to watch a guy who hasn’t turned 16 cane two international bowlers around the field in Potchefstroom.

“Hopefully we’ll have more of those and hopefully we’ll have a 40-year-old in the side if he’s good enough and still wants to play. I feel that is what cricket should be about,” Morgan insisted.

While Morgan will be looking to make plans for preseason preparations, the Dolphins will only announce their  squad in the coming weeks. Signing one or two more senior players will be a welcome addition after losing so many quality players.

"It's been quite challenging during this period to finalise the squad. In an ideal world we would have had Grant involved right at the beginning when we were going through this process. The core of the squad is pretty much the same but we have lost a few players," De Wet explained.

"We haven't announced the squad deliberately because there are a few potential announcements we'd like to make but we weren't able to do that until we had Grant on board. We hope to announce our squads for both the franchise and two semi-pro teams early next week."  

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