It’s nothing new that Cricket SA sees the need to enforce racial targets at junior level in local cricket particularly when it comes to batters — and that is the problem.
It’s an old story. How to rewrite or solve the issue is also understood, but CSA has not seen any positive results for its endeavours.
Black African batters still struggle to make an impression on domestic cricket. At the weekend Boland’s Aviwe Mgijima became only the third black African batter to make a century in Division One of the Four-Day domestic competition this season.
With CSA desperate — firstly for batting talent to emerge and then for that talent to produce consistent output — it continues to be a concern for the organisation and the sport in general. Throw in the fact that a tour to New Zealand this season, which coincides with the SA20, has meant the national selectors are looking even further afield for potential Proteas, and the fact that black batters haven’t made an impression this season, is even more concerning.
Besides Test captain Temba Bavuma, only Tony de Zorzi, already in the Test team and set for a long run in it and Khaya Zondo, were called up by the SA A team for its series with the West Indies.
Zondo’s already had his opportunity having played five Tests and he may argue he deserved more, but a first class average of 31.55 from 146 matches doesn’t help his case.
When CSA has analysed its development pipeline, isolating the reasons why the growth of Black African batters has been lacking, it basically boils down to social and economic circumstances.
Bowling is cheap. Get a ball and a relatively flat space and a player is set.
Batting requires a very specific playing area and then there is the problem with equipment, which is expensive. Add in the hours spent needing to fine-tune technique (which needs elite level coaching) and the different challenges then faced from adjusting to what are mainly concrete pitches in poorer areas to turf pitches at schools and clubs — and it becomes an activity beyond the reach of many.
Cricket SA through its Hubs programme — which links cricket fields with various communities allowing for activities outside cricket to take place at different venues — attempted to address the problem. At the same time they have sought to create more playing opportunities for youngsters in poorer regions and not just shovelling the most talented off to major private schools on bursaries.
Batting is also a very tricky endeavour in that timing, really is everything. A prolific domestic run-scorer like Andrew Puttick had the bulk of his career coincide with Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith; or Devon Conway, whose early output in Gauteng came at the same time as AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla were still in the throes of their international careers.
In other instances players may only come into their own later; Conway is an example of that in New Zealand as is Rassie van der Dussen in SA.
That doesn’t mean CSA shouldn’t be doing all it can to accelerate the growth of black African batters, as it is still attempting to do by having targets at junior level. What CSA doesn’t need is for the DA to engage in political expediency and threaten letters to the ICC citing discrimination.
“This discriminatory CSA policy smacks of political influence from the hopeless, soul-destroying ANC government,” the DA wrote in response to CSA’s move.
Might the DA not be better served, by ensuring schools, clubs and fields are better maintained, to allow for children to receive the best training, rather than threaten CSA with court papers?
Cricket SA cannot solve these problems itself. Last week sport and arts minister, Zizi Kodwa did another of those cheap manoeuvres, so beloved of SA politicians; he said he’d create more awards for artists when what they actually need is facilities to practise their craft.
At that same briefing Kodwa also revealed a new set of overseers in the Eminent Sports Group, which publishes a report each year outlining data about sport in SA that includes numbers of participants as well as the kind of facilities and equipment at their disposal.
Kodwa’s predecessors have been handed that report every year in the last decade and the only time the public ever hears anything, is when sports ministers have admonished federations for not co-operating or not increasing black participation, which then leads to threats about withdrawing recognition for organisations or not supporting them in bids for global events.
The ministry barely ever recognises its own shortcomings in dealing with the data the EPG has presented and how it can provide the required assistance for organisations like Cricket SA.
The EPG should be working to ensure that the sports ministry creates clearer and stronger links with the education ministry and the local government ministry, for it is those two departments that have critical roles to play in sports development at age group level.
As for CSA, it is under increasing pressure. Bavuma is closer to the end of his career than the beginning. De Zorzi is the only black African batter to rise to prominence since Bavuma made his debut nearly a decade ago.
“Obviously being a black African cricketer, is allowing a lot more black African batters to come through, and really dream to come and play for the Proteas,” Bavuma said after scoring his second Test hundred earlier this year against the West Indies.
It was an optimistic outlook from a player who is bearing a burden much heavier than almost any other SA batter has had to in the past 30 years. Cricket SA owes it to him to ensure more like him are coming through — but they could do with assistance from others, including the DA.
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