The cricinfo message, Kirsten quits SA job effective August

TheTODAY/ 

   Gary Kirsten's tenure in charge of South Africa will end on July 31 after he decided not to renew his contract for a further two years. Kirsten, who was appointed in 2011, cited the needs of his sons, Joshua and James and daughter, Joanna, who are all under the age of 10, as the only reason for him opting not to continue to be in charge of the team he took to No.1 on the Test rankings. His last assignment will be the Champions Trophy in England before he settles in to spend more time with his family.

    "I feel I can no longer cope with the lengthy periods of separation from my family that this job demands," Kirsten admitted. "Last year, I had 250 days away from Cape Town, my home. I believe my absentia as a father is compromising my responsibilities to my family. I've just had five weeks at home now, which is the longest period I have had there for a few years and I began to realise the impact my absence as a father has had on my family."

    At the time, he and his wife, Deborah had a policy in place about the maximum number of days they would spend apart - 21. Kirsten also assured her if the separation ever became "unbearable", he would not continue as coach. He has now decided it has reached those levels and Deborah was among the most surprised by that conclusion.

   "I don't think she believed me when I said I was not going to renew," Kirsten said. "But that's how I feel about the importance of the institution of family. I don't want to be a statistic so that when my kids are grown up, they say they didn't see their dad. Right from the outset of my contract, it was a concern - how I would be able to manage the time apart. I even considered doing only one format of the game but we felt it would be unfair on many people. The last five weeks at home have made me more aware of my responsibilities."

    Kirsten denied that political reasons pushed him, although there was some suspicion he was under pressure for a slow transformation rate, especially in Test cricket. Although South Africa has not had a quota system in place for several years, it was widely frowned upon that no black African played in the longest format for South Africa during Kirsten's time in charge. "No, that has nothing to do with it. I've given my reasons and those are 100%," he said.