Five days in which four-day cricket gets to hog the limelight

There’s a modicum of fuss about the Four-Day Series final. The match, between the DP World (Central Gauteng) Lions and WSB Western Province at the Wanderers, will be a five-day affair. SuperSport will broadcast and Vernon Philander is one of the commentators. 

That there is any fuss deserves applause. Four-Day cricket is the lame cousin of T20. Not only in South Africa, but everywhere cricket is played, it is shunted to the margins. 

Take this season in South Africa. The Four-Day Series started on November 4. The next day everyone’s attention was on South Africa’s World Cup round-robin match against India in Kolkata. 

The tournament took a “sabbatical” for six weeks at the end of December so the SA20 could happen, and its last few rounds and final are being squeezed in before the CSA T20 Challenge, which will have more hype to start with because the nationally contracted players will participate before some head to the Indian Premier League. 

So while it is in the spotlight, the five-day Four-Day Series final deserves to bask a bit.

“Attention has shifted to SA20 because of the influence the IPL owners have had on our game and how T20 cricket has taken over the world,” said Lions captain Dominic Hendricks.

“Unfortunately it has come at a bit of a cost because we don’t get (to play) as many four-day games as we used to.”

Besides the role the diminished number of four-day matches has on player development, there’s also that for a player like Hendricks, January and the first half of February, which should be the height of the season, is time off.

“If you are not involved in the SA20 you are sitting at home. Our only game time has been playing club cricket throughout January.”

His opposite number at Western Province, Kyle Verreynne, has sympathy for the obstacles Hendricks and others who don’t have SA20 contracts must endure. By contrast Verreynne had a busy January, playing a lively two-day Test against India at Newlands and then participating for the Pretoria Capitals in the SA20. He had struggles upon his return to the South African Tests and faced criticism for his dismissals against India, but while Hendricks was idle, Verreynne rekindled form and confidence in the high profile T20 League. 

“For me, SA20 was quite a successful tournament. I took that form into the last few rounds of the red ball season.”

That the Four-Day Series is played in two parts and concludes with a final — which hasn’t been a regular feature in its history — adds to the sense that it is a competition the authorities want to get out of the way.

Verreynne understands how difficult that can be.

“You play half the campaign and then when you return for the second half, your squad is very different. There are injuries, new guys in form and there can be a whole different mojo.

“In saying that, there are positives. It was really good for me. For Kyle Simmonds, though he didn’t play much for JSK, being in the same space with the quality of teammates he had there, he’s come back to the four-day stuff with a lot of confidence,” said Verreynne. 

“There are benefits but also challenges. But that’s the way the cricket landscape is. It is something we have to get on with and make the best out of, whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.”

The Lions’ selectors face a tricky task sifting through the many options available to them for the final. They are likely to recall Proteas Test captain Temba Bavuma, who faced Boland two weeks ago and then missed the victory over the Titans last week. 

They have a plethora of bowling options at their disposal with Tshepo Moreki and Duanne Olivier, recent tourists to New Zealand, available for selection. 

It is the same for WP, who can recall Ed Moore and Dane Paterson, while they have an attack that will be led by Beauran Hendricks and Nandre Burger. 

Both teams have potent spin options. Simmonds and the Lions’ Bjorn Fortuin are the joint leading wicket-takers in this season’s competition with 28 apiece. 

While WP are in search of their second trophy this season, having already annexed the One-Day Cup, Hendricks said the Lions had long placed a special emphasis on the Four-Day competition.

“We put a high price on this competition because it is the most difficult competition to win. You have to be consistent over seven to eight games. Within that you have to be consistent over four days, five in a final. I speak for the rest of my team (when I say) this is the one competition we want to win.”