SuperSport Park will host two playoff games in the SA20 next week, and the Pretoria Capitals (PC) will play no part in either of those contests as they were unable to make it out of the group stage.
PC were eliminated from playoff contention with one group game remaining, and it meant their final group fixture against table-toppers MI Cape Town was reduced to a dead rubber.
This despite PC having a couple big name players in the form of Will Jacks, Kyle Verreynne, James Neesham and Rilee Rossouw.
This season, PC employed new coach Jonathan Trott to lead the team and it clearly did not go well.
Outclassed by MI Cape Town on Friday on their home turf in Centurion as they went down by 27 runs to rule them out of the playoffs, Trott revealed the extent of his side’s problems.
“I wasn’t here last season, but if you’re not in the top four out of six teams then they might be a few changes going forward,” Trott told SportsBoom.co.za.
“We need to get the right type of players in, guys with the right talent and character. Character, especially, is such a huge thing that comes out when you’re under pressure.”
Trott also felt his batsmen simply weren’t able to finish off matches
“Our closing out was a problem, we just weren’t able to perform for the whole 20 overs, so we never had momentum with the bat. The batting had some moments and glimpses, but there were no massive partnerships apart from for the first wicket in our first game.
“And when we bowled first, we were in some really good positions, but we couldn’t hold them. Some matches were going very well but we just couldn’t put 40 overs together.”
Still, Trott hinted that he was optimistic he would be back in season four to make the side proud.
“The first year as coach, you’re just trying to build relationships. We’ve had quite an influx of overseas players leaving, local players coming in and out; there’s been a huge turnover of players [20 this season alone].”