Ford sacking makes barely a ripple

With South Africa thrown in turmoil over the shock death of Hansie Cronje, the sacking of South African cricket coach Graham Ford went almost unnoticed. During a meeting of the general council of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCB), Ford was dismissed alongside physiotherapist Craig Smith.

Ford had been due to see out his contract at the 2003 World Cup, but the dismal display against Australia when the Springboks had been gunning to usurp the Australians as the number one team in test cricket, and subsequent loss six-one in the one day internationals made his position untenable in many people's eyes.

The immediate termination of contracts intimates just how far South Africa has come since their return to test cricket. The level of expectation means that the UCB will not tolerate under par performances.

Ford could have easily pointed to unfortunate injuries to integral members of the side such as Pollock and Donald as hindering the Springbok's competitive nature.

He also hinted at other issues other than results, which determined his fate. "I haven't officially been given the reasons yet but to be honest; I'm not surprised at all, maybe my opinions did not quite gel with the opinion of others.

"Memories are quite short. This was my 10th series and I won the other nine."

But with the news of Cronje dominating everyone's thoughts, Ford summing up his feelings on the termination of his contract added, "It's fairly small when you think about it. It's not nearly as serious as death."

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