South African domestic cricket professional coach of the year Geoffrey Toyana believes that his work ethic has done the trick for him in his first season at the highest level. The Highveld Lions coach beat his counterparts from Cape Cobras Paul Adams and Eastern Cape Warriors Piet Botha to win this award during the Cricket South Africa awards on Monday night. Toyana and Lions also won the RAM Slam T20 challenge and tied for the Momentum One Day Cup in the first season…

Proteas spin bowler Aaron Phangiso was one of the star performers in the Lions system and enjoyed playing under Toyana and has wonderful things to say about the Sowetan…

When Toyana was appointed he became the first black to coach in the Franchise system and he followed that up by picking a number of deserving black players in his Lions team. A former first class cricket player himself, Toyana says all black players need is an opportunity to play and make their mark…

This is a statement that is well supported by Phangiso, one of the main black players to have starred under Toyana this past season but not because of the colour of his skin…

As winners of the Ram Slam T20 Challenge here at home, the Lions will be leaving for India next week to represent South Africa in the Champions League Twenty20 and Toyana knows that after reaching the final last year on home soil, they will have to go one step further this time around…

The Lions are in Group A in the CLT20 and open their campaign against Australia’s Perth Scorchers on the 24th of this month. Phangiso is aware that pressure is on them to deliver in India…Journalist: Velile Mbuli