Tshwane Spartans head coach Mark Boucher won’t allow the hype of the 2019 Mzansi Super League to ‘sugarcoat’ the evident problems in South African cricket.

Last year’s inaugural edition of the MSL was a relative success, with the second competition starting this week. The Proteas, meanwhile, are smarting on the back of a heavy Test-series defeat by India and a seventh-place finish at the 10-team World Cup.

Cricket South Africa, meanwhile, has suspended interim director of cricket Corrie van Zyl, chief operating officer Naasei Appiah and commercial manager Clive Eksteen.

The suspensions have come after the South African Cricketers’ Association launched a formal dispute with CSA over unpaid fees for the 2018 MSL.

‘I think there are bigger issues that need to be dealt with, to be honest. There might be quite a few people looking at this and saying we’re sugarcoating the actual situation were are in with South African cricket at the moment. We’ve got ourselves into a pretty bad state. Hopefully there are some clever heads there to try and turn things around,’ said Boucher.

‘The tournament will be well supported as it was last year, but we’ve got to be very careful with putting too much emphasis on this tournament. There are bigger problems that need to be sorted out.

‘And they need to be sorted out very soon, for the good of cricket, our country and for the good of world cricket. There are guys around the world talking about the state we’re in, it’s not good. It’s sad to read, watch and listen about our cricket. There’s a lot of negativity.’

The Jozi Stars are the reigning MSL champions, after beating the Cape Town Blitz in last year’s final. The Stars and Blitz will be captained by Proteas Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock, respectively, this year. The Spartans, meanwhile, have appointed wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen.

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