Second-string Proteas could contest Tests in NZ due to clash with SA20

The Proteas may send a weakened team to New Zealand for two Tests next February, as Cricket South Africa (CSA) battles to compromise between ensuring the SA20 retains its status while having to fulfil its obligations to the ICC’s Future Tours Programme (FTP).

The whistle-stop tour in February is scheduled to start with a three-day warm-up match in Christchurch on January 29, with the first Test starting on February 4 and the second on February 13. 

Because of the SA20, which is scheduled to begin in the second week of January and expected to last a month, even CSA CEO Pholetsi Moseki was unable to speculate on the strength of the squad that would head Down Under.

“The SA20 for us is non-negotiable,” Moseki said.

“However we also understand the obligations we have in terms of the FTP.”

The two-Test series with New Zealand forms part of the Proteas’ 2025 ICC World Test Championship cycle. South Africa play six series as part of that competition. 

Moseki said the SA20 auction, which is set to take place in late September, should provide Proteas management with more clarity about which players may be part of that tour squad. 

“We know there will be a clash [between the SA20 and the NZ tour], but only once we know how many of the contracted players will be picked up in the auction will we be able to get a clearer picture of what the squad could look like.” 

Even in its inaugural season CSA was forced to make a significant compromise with the Proteas regarding the SA20. Needing to have all of its star players available for a competition CSA believes will provide a significant boost for the sport, the organisation cancelled a One-Day series in Australia last year, putting the Proteas chances of automatic qualification for this year’s World Cup in jeopardy. 

There were sighs of relief all round when the Proteas stumbled over the line, thanks to a series win against the Netherlands while victory for Bangladesh over Ireland, confirmed the automatic qualification. 

“The SA20 is too important to us, but so is the FTP,” Moseki said. 

The series couldn’t be moved later to later in February because New Zealand is hosting Australia for two Tests — the first between the two countries in New Zealand in eight years. Along with the Tests, those two teams will play three T20 Internationals, making it a more lucrative exercise for the Kiwis than the Proteas’ visit.

The first of the three T20 Internationals will be played four days after the second Proteas Test is scheduled to finish. 

South Africa last toured New Zealand in 2022, also for two Tests, and were badly compromised in the first match of that series after spending 10 days in quarantine because of that country’s strict Covid-19 policy. 

The Proteas were beaten by an innings and 276 runs in the first Test. Having shaken off the effects of the quarantine, they bounced back a week later to beat the Black Caps by 198 runs in the second Test to draw the series. 

The Blacks Caps have never beaten the Proteas in a Test series. 

SA Test Tour to New Zealand Itinerary

February 4 to 8: First Test, Tauranga

February 13 to 17: Second Test, Hamilton