State of Pietermaritzburg Oval causes more embarrassment for Cricket SA

Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) T20 Challenge, already hampered by poor attendance, incurred further embarrassment for the organisation on Tuesday when it was forced to move matches from the Pietermaritzburg Oval, the home of KwaZulu-Natal Inland, because of the dreadful state of the outfield.

Pins and bits of glass were reportedly dotted around the field after the venue hosted the state of the province address by premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube two weeks ago.

Even before the event, many visiting players had complained about the state of the field and changeroom facilities. 

CSA said on Tuesday “alternative venues” would be sought for the KZN Inland home games, without mentioning what those are.

“The wellbeing of our players and the integrity of the game are paramount and we take such issues seriously,” it said. 

KZN Inland is due to host the North West Dragons on Friday. However, on Monday North West were informed they would be hosting the match in Potchefstroom instead, which will be played as a “home” game for the visiting team.

North West is advertising ticket sales for the match on their Facebook site. 

“It's disappointing for us that we are in this situation, but we will be putting in place all measures necessary to get our field back to its pristine playing condition,” said the CEO of KZN Inland, Jason Sathiaseelan.

The tournament, despite the presence of all the nationally contracted players for the first week, lacks a sponsor, while rows of empty stands greeted players in the opening weekend of fixtures.

“It was disappointing,” DP World (Central Gauteng) Lions coach Russell Domingo said about attendance at the Wanderers last Friday. 

Just more than 1,000 spectators passed through the gates at the Bullring, where a Lions team featuring eight Proteas and the sport’s next big star Kwena Maphaka beat a Boland Rocks side with five Proteas in it by 44 runs. 

“Specially for the guys who’d played in front of big crowds in the SA20, we had 13 players who’ve played internationally play last Friday, so that was disappointing.

“Hopefully it picks up as the tournament unfolds.”

If the Proteas weren’t able to attract an audience for a competition that will run until the end of April, it is hard to see what will bring spectators through the gates.

Some of the biggest names in the sport in this country will head to India this week, where they are due to play in the IPL, which will dilute the standard of the domestic competition and make it an even tougher sell for the marketing folk at CSA.

Certainly the difference in how the T20 Challenge is marketed compared to the SA20 is stark, while there is also the element of “SA20” fatigue, as one senior provincial union official put it, to factor in. 

Domingo said the length of the tournament — a result of it being played on a home and away basis — means his team is not getting carried away with the good start they have made.

“There is a long way to go, there’s 12 matches to be played. There will be a drop off, that’s completely natural because there are so many matches, but you’d rather start well, which we have done.”

Victories against Boland and North West have put the Lions in second place behind the Warriors ahead of Wednesday night’s match in Durban against the KZN Dolphins. 

Keshav Maharaj’s side have lost both their opening games at Kingsmead, and Domingo is expecting them to dig their heels in to arrest their slide.

“I spoke to (Warriors coach) Robin Peterson about what to expect there, and he confirmed it was typically slow and would spin. It’s what they do so well and with Kesh, Prenelan Subrayen and JJ Smuts in that side, it’s what has worked for them. But will have to adapt and be prepared for that,” said Domingo.

Wednesday’s fixtures (all start 6pm): 

Hollywood Bets Dolphins vs DP World Lions, Kingsmead; WSB Western Province vs Auto Investment North West Dragons, Newlands; Momentum Multiply Titans vs Dafabet Warriors, Centurion.