CAPE TOWN, March 7: South African cricket is caught in a vacuum and failing to produce the quality players of old, according to former coach Bob Woolmer.

“Club cricket used to be strong, but not anymore,” Woolmer said. “There are lot of little problems which build up into big ones. It is not an easy thing to manage.

“Many cricketers, both black and white, are not sure what future holds for them.”

Hosts South Africa suffered a shock first-round elimination from the World Cup after a series of unimpressive performances.

The final blow came when their do-or-die clash against Sri Lanka ended in a tie, after rain intervened with South Africa one run short of forcing victory under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

“There is a vacuum in South African cricket,” Woolmer said. “South Africa is not producing the type of cricketers it used to anymore.”

Woolmer said South African cricket managers faced a tough job to turn things around.

“The most important would be nurturing talent in the 18-24 age group,” he said, adding that social transformation in the country had also contributed to the uncertainty.

“Some of the white children may be giving up cricket. In the townships, if the good cricketing kids are not looked after, they also may go to find jobs.

“Kids with jobs can’t play on Saturdays. There are four or five such players I myself know.”

Woolmer took South Africa to the semifinals at the 1999 World Cup and is credited with reviving the team after their return to the international fold in 1992.

The highly respected coach, who coached South Africa for five years until 1999, is currently with the International Cricket Council (ICC) as its high performance manager. He supervised the preparation of Canada, Holland and Namibia for this year’s tournament.

Woolmer said he felt the team management had been caught unaware when it began raining at the day-night game in Kingsmead.

“I guess there was a scramble in the dressing room once it started to rain.”

He said during his stint as Warwickshire coach he used to keep a separate computer to monitor weather.

“I could then see rain approaching on the radar,” he said.

“They could not have otherwise seen rain coming in during the night in Durban.”

Woolmer also felt fast bowler Allan Donald had been treated unfairly.

Donald was dropped after proving expensive in the three-run defeat against West Indies in the tournament’s opening game and then struggled to find a regular place. He is expected to announce his retirement from all international cricket in the next few days.

“He was selected for a reason but they lost confidence in him mainly due to media hype,” Woolmer said. “Every cricketer, whether he is 21 or 36, needs confidence, needs to be told he is a good cricketer. That wasn’t the case with Allan.”—Reuters