South Africans have spoken as one about the SA20 — they bloody love it

There is a crowd engagement exercise at the SA20 day/night matches that looks like a very elaborate load-shedding joke. 

At some point, once darkness has descended, the always vibrant stadium announcer — they’re all like that at each of the six venues — will call on the crowd to shine the torches on their cellphones towards the field. Thankfully Eskom’s incompetence has not been allowed to delay this tournament in any way, so it’s not a ploy to get the match going or a flashy attempt at gaining a cheap laugh.

The cellphone torch moment, copied from the IPL — unsurprisingly given the strong connections between the two leagues — is a form of luminous “arm-linking” for the many thousands of fans who have marched through the gates to enjoy the SA20. Let’s call it a “Simunye” moment.

South Africans have spoken as one about the SA20 — they bloody love it. Instead of making fun of the Proteas, the competition has enabled the public to see cricket as fun again.

In a marriage between the play on the field — from Dewald Brevis tonking sixes, to Jofra Archer launching missiles and Kyle Mayers delivering whatever wizardry it is he does — and in-stadium activations off it, which include the “Kiss Cam” and one-handed catches, a lot of people are having a very good time at the cricket.

Boy did the sport in South Africa need it.  

Its reputation has taken a pounding over the last decade. Two previous attempts at producing a T20 League have failed and CSA lost close to R500m as a result. There was the administrative collapse, a forensic inquiry, the sports minister threatened to ban CSA and commercial partners walked away. 

Then there’s the performances of the Proteas ... but those tales are too dark to be rehashed.

The SA20 has surprised even those running it with how enthusiastically the tournament has been embraced by South Africans, given the doom and gloom that had descended over the sport. The day before most working people’s payday, there were 17,000 spectators at the Wanderers to watch Faf du Plessis score the first century in the tournament. 

It’s unbelievable. It’s so good to be playing cricket in South Africa again in front of full crowds. 

—  Faf du Plessis

Of course ticket prices starting at R20 have been friendly, with the aim to get bums on seats, but it was still a stunning sight to see and hear that many people — of all shapes, sizes and genders — having themselves a merry old time on a Tuesday night in the last week of January.

More encouraging was that so many spectators were 20-somethings or teens — the dream age bracket for advertisers and marketers. “It’s unbelievable,” Du Plessis remarked about the tournament. “It’s so good to be playing cricket in South Africa again, in front of full crowds.”

In the age of professionalism, too often it’s been the case that sport as fun — the watching of it as well as the playing — has been forgotten. The SA20 may in a few years become a lot more serious. 

Right now it’s a hell of a lot of fun and has brought smiles back to South African faces at a fairly difficult time for the country as a whole. 

It is having the most profound effect, mainly for now on cricket. The 10-year broadcast deal will provide finances that will hopefully be used to grow and improve the standards of the sport. Betway coming on board as title sponsor has given an unexpected economic boost that will see the tournament turn a small profit after its first year.

The lights are shining brightly once more for South African cricket and it must be hoped the sport’s authorities use the momentum to rebuild trust — with the public, sponsors and players.