Cricket South Africa (CSA) has named Patrick Moroney as the new convenor selector for the South African men’s national team. Moroney will officially assume the role on August 1, just ahead of the team’s white-ball series in Australia, which kicks off on August 10.
Moroney brings with him a wealth of experience in player selection and development. His involvement with South African cricket stretches back to 2001, having previously worked with the National Academy, emerging squads, and more recently, serving as convenor selector for the Under-19 men’s team, including during the 2024 U-19 World Cup where talents like Kwena Maphaka and Lhuan-dre Pretorius were part of his picks.
“𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒔, 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒃,” — 𝑬𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒉 𝑵𝒌𝒘𝒆, 𝑪𝑺𝑨’𝒔 𝑫𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆
A Familiar Face Returns to Senior Selection
Moroney is not new to the senior selection setup. In 2019, he was shortlisted for the convenor role but lost out to Victor Mpitsang, eventually serving alongside him in a panel that included the head coach and captain. That setup was dissolved in 2023 when coach Shukri Conrad was appointed and selection duties were centralized with the head coaches.
Now, Moroney will be the first convenor to work with Conrad, who had previously operated without a selection panel.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉… 𝑾𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆,” — 𝑵𝒌𝒘𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆
Challenges and Expectations Ahead
The reintroduction of a convenor selector follows criticism of the current selection process, including controversial squad decisions like the lack of diversity in South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad last year. The CSA board has since insisted on restoring at least partial oversight to provide more balance and reduce the burden on national coaches.
Shukri Conrad, now the all-format coach, has already shown a willingness to make bold calls, such as promoting Wiaan Mulder to No. 3 in Tests—a move that paid off with Mulder now holding the highest Test score for South Africa.
During the previous selection tenure, both Mpitsang and Moroney made notable calls, including the surprise inclusion of Marco Jansen, who has since become a key player across all formats. However, not all decisions were successful—like the 2022 Test in Old Trafford, where the team changed a winning combination and suffered a series loss.
As Moroney steps into this important role, CSA and fans alike will be watching closely to see how his vast experience shapes the next era of Proteas cricket.
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