They’re the people who will be blamed for what goes wrong even though they’re on the other side of the boundary and ignored when it goes right.

They’re the coaches and here are five who have earned their salutes in 2017.

1. Titans head coach Mark Boucher

Boucher doesn’t care if you don’t like his methods or if your team’s progress is impeded by his decisions.

“I don’t get paid to look after other franchises‚ I get paid to look after the Titans‚” he said after his team completed their march to the T20 title.

In an age when coaches talk too much and don’t do enough Boucher is a throwback to a time when performance mattered more than marketing.

2. Cobras head coach Ashwell Prince

Prince is cut from the same cloth as Boucher: tough‚ uncompromising‚ couldn’t give a damn about what people say.

There is about him a virtual obsession with fairness‚ hard work and success‚ and a seriousness that marks him out as a coach players will respect as well as follow.

Domestic cricket will be compelling whenever Prince and Boucher are in opposing dugouts.

So‚ with the first-class and one-day competitions still to be decided‚ prepare to be compelled to watch.

3. South Africa assistant coach Malibongwe Maketa

Growing up on the Border‚ Maketa showed great promise as a fast bowler who could bat and seemed set to light up the game at whatever level he reached.

But he might have been ended up on cricket’s scrapheap after stress fractures limited his playing career to one match each in the first-class and list A formats.

Instead of bleating about what might have been like other former players‚ Maketa set about building his career as a coach.

That the Warriors‚ his former employers‚ are sad as well as happy to see him elevated to the international arena tells us everything we need to know.

4. South Africa batting coach Dale Benkenstein

It’s a shame the thoughtful‚ competent‚ articulate Neil McKenzie had to be replaced when Ottis Gibson took over as South Africa’s head coach.

The good news is that Benkenstein is at least McKenzie’s equal in all three respects.

The buck will stop with Benkenstein to sort out the batting problems that caused South Africa’s downfall in England this winter.

But Benkenstein has the skill and experience required for that challenge‚ and he comes with the added perspective afforded him by his current and ongoing work in the school system with Hilton College in KwaZulu-Natal.

5. Former South Africa assistant coach Adrian Birrell

Birrell‚ who lost his job to Maketa‚ will tell you that his major contribution to the national cause was to serve as a bottomless source of throwdowns.
Closer to the truth is that Birrell has been the national team’s reality check for the past four years.

He is steeped in cricket — his father‚ Harry‚ played for Oxford University‚ Eastern Province and what is now Zimbabwe and became a much-respected groundsman — but he is about much more than the game.

Birrell junior still farms‚ near Grahamstown‚ and can talk at length and passionately about everything from drought to beekeeping.

When you’re stuck in the bubble of unreality that is international cricket‚ you need people like Birrell.