When Hilton Moreeng took over as head coach of the Proteas Women, none of the players even had a contract. Now they're one of the best teams in the world.

Proteas Women head coach Hilton Moreeng has seen it all. The man from Kimberley has been at the helm of the national side for nearly 11 years - since December 2012.

"Last year in December somebody actually said, 'I've seen you've been on the job for so long'," Moreeng told Daily Maverick.

"[Only then] I actually sat back and thought, you know, I didn't even see that. I didn't even realise because you're so focused on the next tour, the next player, how we can improve as a team."

A decade is a long period for one person to lead a national team (coaches usually only last one Cricket World Cup cycle, which is four years), especially when the proud cricketing nation wins no silverware during that person's tenure.

But Moreeng, a former professional wicketkeeper-batter for Free State, is an exception. A month after taking the reins in 2012, he was thrust into a Cricket World Cup campaign in India. The side finished sixth out of eight teams. In Moreeng's first assignment with the team, 10 days before the World Cup, he oversaw a 2-2 drawn ODI series against West Indies and a 2-0 T20 International series loss against them...