Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) new T20 tournament finally has a name‚ and it’s damn sexy.
Say hello to the Mzansi Super League (MSL)‚ which is scheduled to run from November 16 to December 16.
That’s eight days later than CSA have previously said the competition would start‚ and it will be seven days shorter than originally advertised.
The announcement was made on Friday by press release — or exponentially less glitzy than the launch of the ill-fated T20 Global League in a posh London hotel on June 19 last year‚ which was replete with champagne and fancy food‚ all sorts of familiar faces‚ and journalists flown in specially for the occasion at CSA’s expense.
Somehow‚ the 571 words of release-speak that landed late on Friday afternoon couldn’t quite match all that in the glamour stakes.
“We can assure fans that the talent set to participate in the MSL T20 will be top class‚ featuring our established Proteas alongside their international counterparts‚ while also showcasing our up-and-coming local talent‚” Corrie van Zyl‚ CSA’s general manager for cricket‚ who was described the MSL’s playing affairs director‚ was quoted as saying.
Tournament director Russell Adams wanted “every South African to feel that they are a part of a league which celebrates our cultural diversity”.
Friday’s news represents a step forward for an event that was due to be played for the first time last November and December but was postponed in September.
Doubts have since mounted that CSA would get their act together well enough to stage the tournament this year‚ and those concerns continue to exist what with the first ball due to bowled in just more than a month and so much still to be done.
But progress has sped up. The venues — the Wanderers‚ Centurion‚ Kingsmead‚ St George’s Park‚ Newlands and Boland Park — were revealed on Thursday and the names of the teams and the “marquee Proteas players and the headline international signings”‚ Friday’s release gushed‚ will be made known at Monday’s player draft.
The fixtures and broadcast and ticket information will‚ apparently‚ follow next week.
While CSA are at it‚ they might want to think about naming sponsors.
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