Gary Kirsten - South Africa's next coach?

As a South African cricketing fan, I've been very intrigued to watch Gary Kirsten's progress as coach of the highly temperamental Indian cricket team.

Kirsten was a fabulous servant of SA cricket. As a player he was one of the toughest opening batters we possessed and his fighting spirit gave our entire order some real steel.

When he was appointed coach of India, a lot of people questioned whether he could make the make from being a good player, to a good coach - no easy feat!

A series draw against South Africa and a sound beating of the Australians (thanks Gazza!) makes for a pretty good record in a shortish international coaching career.

Having read some of the comments made by the Indian players, they've been impressed by his calm and decisive nature... something I personally think is missing from SA cricket at the moment - no offence Mickey Arthur. One just gets the feeling that beneath the toughness of Smith, there's a bit of a brittleness that could be exposed.

I suspect Kirsten has a very good chance of taking the reins at South Africa in the next few years and its really good to see a South African making good with a tricky team like India!