Cricket SA has ‘utmost respect for Test format as pinnacle of the game we love’

Cricket South Africa (CSA) said it made “every effort” to find a new time slot for the Proteas' two-match Test series with New Zealand, but the “constraints imposed by the global cricket calendar” made that impossible, forcing it to send a ‘B’ team next month.

A firestorm has erupted — mainly in Australia — where CSA and the International Cricket Council (ICC) have faced the ire of some of that country’s ex-players including former captains Steve Waugh and Michael Clarke, about CSA’s decision to prioritise the SA20 over Test cricket. CSA is a majority a shareholder in the SA20.

The Proteas will send a squad featuring seven uncapped players including captain Neil Brand, for the two Tests against the Black Caps starting on February 4 with the second match in Hamilton from February 13. 

In a statement released on Tuesday evening CSA said it had noted the concerns expressed by the likes of Waugh and Clarke, but that it still had the “utmost respect for the Test format as the pinnacle of the game we love”. 

CSA pointed out that dates for the tour had been finalised in August 2022 when the Future Tours Programme was announced by the ICC.

“The window for the SA20 had not been determined at that stage. Once it became apparent that there would be a clash, we made every effort to find another mutually suitable time slot for this two-Test series in consultation with New Zealand Cricket,” CSA said. 

New Zealand has a busy home summer, that includes T20 Internationals against Pakistan, the Tests against South Africa and a tour by Australia, which also features two Tests and follows immediately after the Proteas series. 

After that there is the Indian Premier League, the only domestic T20 tournament that has its own window in the calendar, and New Zealand needs to ensure that its international season ends in time to allow both Australia’s and its own players to travel in time to India for that tournament.

CSA reportedly continued negotiations as late as July last year, but New Zealand Cricket stated that by that stage CSA had already signed off on all the logistics, meaning internal travel and hotels and that a warm-up match had been arranged starting on January 29. 

The tour coincides with the last couple of weeks of the SA20, which ends on February 10. CSA has locked in all the nationally contracted men’s players for that tournament. A host of other top domestic players have also already been contracted to the league, which last year earned CSA R34m after its inaugural season, an unexpected sum for the cash-strapped organisation. 

“Our schedule for the remainder of the FTP has been managed to ensure there will not be any further clashes between our bilateral commitments and the SA20,” the organisation said.

“CSA remains fully committed to international cricket and to strengthening the SA20, a tournament that was initiated by us to help grow and sustain the game.”