Russell Domingo has lashed out former Proteas batsman Rilee Rossouw for signing a Kolpak contract, saying “I am bitterly disappointed in him”.
Rossouw, along with fast bowler Kyle Abbott, has committed to taking up a Kolpak contract with Hampshire at the start of the forthcoming England season.
Cricket South Africa terminated Abbott’s contract on Thursday, and are in the process of following a similar plan with Rossouw.
“Rilee… very disappointed. I haven’t heard from Rilee since we left Australia, to be honest. Some of us have tried to get hold of him, and this is the truth, we got an email from him off his iPhone telling us he’s signed a Kolpak. He spelt my name wrong, for starters. He wrote one L instead of two LLs. That’s where we are,” Domingo said at an explosive press conference after the Proteas had concluded a 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka at Newlands.
“I am bitterly disappointed in him. That’s the bottom truth. He toured Australia as the back-up Test batsman. He was the next batsman in. He’s played One-Day cricket for us and lots of T20 cricket for us. He’s the guy we backed after five noughts. If that was a player of colour who got five noughts, everyone would have said transformation. But he got five noughts, and we thought this was a guy who could play the closest level to AB de Villiers than anybody else. He’s a guy we’ve invested in massively, and I am bitterly disappointed.”
Domingo was equally let down with Abbott’s conduct after consulting the 29-year-old with regards to his future during last year.
“I had discussions with Kyle six to eight months ago, encouraging him to hang in, to stay within the system while Morkel, Steyn and Rabada were fit, to be patient. I thought it had subsided, and hadn’t heard the talk again until two days ago. That was also a disappointment for me, that the whole thing has unfolded without being consulted or us even being allowed to pitch at least a sales pitch to him,” Domingo said.
“What we can offer him, a two-year or a three-year extension. Nobody is guaranteed a place to play for his country. I can’t guarantee it. Nobody has the right to play for his country. He has a good chance as any other player to play for his country. That has been the disappointment, that we weren’t allowed to sales pitch, whether it’s about forward planning, where we see him. We weren’t allowed to present that to him before he made his decision.”
Domingo also stated that Abbott has received the support from the national selectors and team management recently, and should have been aware that he was an integral part of the national squad moving forward, especially with an ICC Champions Trophy looming mid-year in England.
“He’s (Abbott) been doing it for a period of time. He’s played most of the games. We took him ahead of Dale to the West Indies. He played ahead of Morné Morkel in the West Indies. He played against Australia here when we beat them 5-0. He’s played in our T20 World Cup ahead of Morné Morkel, so if he hasn’t got an idea, then I don’t know,” Domingo sighed.
