Cricket South Africa has confirmed that it’s in the process of evaluating the effectiveness of its domestic system in developing the sport in the country. KHUNULOGO MPOLOKENG reports.
CSA’s executive for domestic cricket Edward Khoza says they are keen to review the impact of the introduction of the promotion-relegation format in senior domestic competitions and the functioning of their player-development pipelines, among other important factors.
Speaking at the launch of the 2024-25 One-Day Cup in Johannesburg last week, Khoza said it was important to always keep tabs on the state of the overall system, especially the progress of the senior domestic cricket.
“The changes that we introduced shook up the system, and we’re now busy reviewing the system, looking at the gains and the losses,” said Khoza.
“There are various discussions taking place to try and make sure that we can advance domestic cricket.
“What we’re also picking up is that the schools system keeps producing young, quality cricketers, while our Division 1 teams seem to be signing up very well when it comes to contracting the 16 players and they have a lot of high-performance contracts with guys who are between the ages of 19 and 23, who have graduated from our U19 talent-acceleration programme and those who have played for SA U19.
“But what is quite disappointing is that those guys hardly get game time because the feeder system below doesn’t play enough cricket. So the discussions we’re having are about trying to unlock a system that ensures that young and talented guys get enough game time to realise their professional ambitions.”
Khoza acknowledged that, from what he’s already observed, there remains room for improvement in the standard of senior domestic cricket in the country, although there were some positives. He said CSA was working on establishing a domestic desk whose sole focus would be on the progress and the growth of the local game.
“When you bring in the promotion-relegation factor, it also has consequences that you might have not pre-empted because when, for example, the [Free State] Knights got relegated they lost a sponsor who added value to cricket,” said Khoza.
“But those are the things that are part and parcel of the professional system that we’re working on and they should not deter us from making brave decisions and backing them.
“We’re also asking ourselves the question of whether the pressure that the players are now playing under domestically helps them to be able to play in the pressure situations at ICC events; whether the results we’ve seen in the last year and a half are because of the change in psyche of our players because in the past there was a safety net that meant there were no consequences for losing.
“So there are pros and cons in this process, and it will be quite interesting when we get into a room and take stock of where we are.”
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Khoza highlighted the importance of a strong and competitive SA20 in strengthening the Proteas, saying the reason for their focus on the progress of the domestic system is that it ought to be a reliable feeder for SA20 teams, which in turn will help the national team.
“It would be false to say I’m satisfied [with the standard of cricket]; I need to continuously look for more.
“The vital issue is to put the SA20 behind the IPL, and for it to be behind the IPL, you need a progressive domestic system that keeps producing these players who are able to compete with these international guys and who keep the SA20 relevant and appetising.
“That’s why it’s important for the players and coaches to appreciate the opportunity to play to get into the SA20, which wasn’t there before.”
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
