Last week’s Cricket SA Coaches Conference made it clear there are no easy solutions to the grievances highlighted by local players and coaches regarding the domestic playing structure.
While the problems are easy to outline — too little match time, poor logistics around travel and accommodation and concerns about how those impact on preparing players for international level — the hard part is resolving those issues.
“Our season just isn’t going to look like it used to,” said director of cricket Enoch Nkwe. “We want more matches, but how do we increase the number? Our domestic season next summer will be shorter and not just because of the SA20, but also the IPL which will be moving from its current end of March start to mid-March.”
There was recognition that more than 24 matches needed to be played for sides in the top division as was the case last season, but Nkwe said he would still be grappling with how to do that while being cognisant of CSA’s continued financial constraints and the need for improved competitiveness. Again he mentioned a “North vs South” match or set of matches as a possible solution, a topic that was discussed by the coaches.
The annual conference brings together all the provincial coaches — men and women — the national junior coaches along with CSA’s High Performance office-bearers and the CEOs of the different provincial unions.
In addition, Shukri Conrad and Rob Walter, the coaches of the Proteas Test and limited overs teams respectively, made presentations.
Nkwe said several proposals had been raised, which would form part of his broader Domestic Cricket Review, a holistic analysis of the entire system.
A final decision about next season’s domestic schedule will be made at a later date, but Nkwe said it was important to raise awareness about domestic cricket not existing in isolation from the rest of the world. “It’s not just us experiencing these challenges. I’ve heard the same from other countries.
We have to play more SA A cricket. If you look at the Future Tours Programme for all the leading nations, it is packed. Getting more Test cricket will be difficult, but we can do more with national A teams.
— Enoch Nkwe, CSA director of cricket
“Finalising a new structure or schedule is not something I think will be cast in stone for a period like five years, it will have to be assessed on an annual basis. The reality we face is that T20 leagues are springing up regularly. There’s talk of a Saudi league now, and it happens that our players are quite attractive to these leagues,” said Nkwe.
As an illustration of their popularity, even during the SA20 this year, four South African players were also participating in the International League T20 in Dubai. There are 14 players currently involved in the IPL, the same number have signed up to the newly created Major League Cricket tournament in the US, where three of the six teams are owned by IPL franchises.
While one of the goals set at the conference was to improve the Proteas Test team with a specific target of qualifying for the 2027 World Test Championship, the jam-packed international calendar would also affect how domestic cricket was structured.
“In the next three years, there’s the 50-over World Cup in October/November this year, then seven months later a T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and US and then seven months after that, the Champions Trophy in 2025 in Pakistan.”
One aspect that will be strengthened and be given an elevated status is the SA A side. “We have to play more SA A cricket. If you look at the Future Tours Programme for all the leading nations, it is packed. Getting more Test cricket will be difficult, but we can do more with national A teams.”
Nkwe said it was a sentiment shared not only in SA but other nations too. “Other countries want to play A cricket, but they want to play in the prime time of the other nation, in other words, if we send an SA A side to play the England Lions, we want to go in our winter and their summer and vice versa.”
Of course doing so would place even more stress on the domestic game and schedule.
Nkwe described the presentations by national Conrad and Walter and the way they were received by coaches as a very powerful moment. “The playing philosophy had been explained to all the coaches at last year’s conference, but I think to see the Proteas team play in the way that the philosophy was outlined has definitely provided a clearer picture for everyone. For the coaches to see it was very powerful.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.