Maketa at the SA Under-19 wheel: Key role in nurturing future Proteas

South Africa has tended to be one cricketing nation that's acutely affected by the output of its Under-19s.

When the Under-19 groups, like those of 2000, 2002, 2008, 2012, and 2014 are healthy, the output of the players graduating to international cricket generally comes through and shines at the highest level relatively quickly.

When they're not in the best of shapes, like the 2004, 2006, 2016, and 2020 units, it often shows a small sample size of players pushing through into first-class cricket and the international stage.

It's for this reason that the right choice of coach is critical, along with the uncontrollable factor of the player cycle coming through in a particular two-year section.

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This was something former Under-19 coach Shukri Conrad, who has now moved up to the Test team, spoke at length about and something his replacement Malibongwe Maketa must keep in mind when approaching his new position.

The issue of player cycles was something that dodged Conrad's predecessors, Ray Jennings and Lawrence Mahatlane.

The players that came Jennings' way in 2008 took him to the final, with the 2014 group remaining SA's only Under-19 World Cup-winning team, with Kagiso Rabada and Aiden Markram being the stars that emerged from that unit. They remain cornerstones of the men's national team across all formats.

Mahatlane wasn't so fortunate with his player output, with Gerald Coetzee, Kyle Verreynne, and Tony de Zorzi being the high-profile graduates from his time.

What Maketa, who will also be heading the national academy, will have is the experience of having worked at every level barring this important formative stage.

He assisted at provincial level with the Titans