Ashwell Prince’s eye for young talent and natural hunger to win makes him the perfect candidate to lead the next generation of Proteas, writes Khalid Mohidin.

The manner in which the Proteas were dumped out of the World Cup was ruthless. They were knocked out of the tournament with three games still left to play.

This was also the end of an era. Retirements are expected to follow JP Duminy and Imran Tahir, with questions marks hanging over Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn’s future in the green and gold. Ultimately a rebuild is needed.

When selecting the next Proteas coach there are specific characteristics that need to be considered.

The job will require someone who can identify the next generation of Proteas players that will take part in the next global showpiece in 2023.

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What the selection process for the 2019 tournament proved, was that selectors had no trust in the current crop of domestic stars. Although we saw debuts given to the likes of Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks, Christiaan Jonker and Heinrich Klaasen, Anrich Nortje and Wiaan Mulder in ODIs, only Van der Dussen made the final squad, with Nortje’s injury ruling him out.

There were no considerations for some of the top-performing talents at domestic level, who all happened to be youngsters.

You may be sitting there thinking, “where are you going with this?” And those who have read my column before, know that I am a firm believer in the saying: “If you are good enough, you are old enough.”

We need a coach who lives by that phrase. A coach who has an eye for young talent and who knows how to evoke the best performances out of them. Also, someone who is not afraid to pick a young player instead of an experienced one.

No one else has proven that he can do this better than Prince.

The Cobras coach put his trust into a group of young cricketers and most importantly never looked at their age as criteria for their selection, he focused on their mental strength and hunger to succeed. These are qualities that are essential to any successful side.

Don’t be misinformed, however, he does trust experienced campaigners too and has managed to achieve the almost impossible task of blending youth with experience while still keeping the respect and maintaining a unified team ethos and spirit.

If Prince is selected, there is no doubt that he will look to bring in players who possess a similar tough-mindedness and work ethic as he had as a player and has as a coach.