Former Proteas and India coach Gary Kirsten is looking forward to this year’s involvement with the Durban Heat in the Mzansi Super League.

The MSL launched last year and Kirsten was recently revealed as the Heat’s head coach for the second edition.

He has previously worked with the Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League and will coach the Cardiff-based team in next year’s The Hundred in the United Kingdom.

‘I thought the quality of the cricket last year was pretty good, but more importantly I got feedback from some of the players and they were really encouraged by the competition, so that’s good news,’ Kirsten told Sport24.

‘Like every product in its first year there are learnings you can take to make it better, so we would hope it gets better as it goes along.’

The tournament was meant to launch as the Global T20 League in 2017, but was postponed and eventually revamped for 2018. The inaugural Euro T20 Slam in Scotland, Netherlands and Ireland, meanwhile, has been cancelled – and the Global T20 Canada was marred by player payment disputes earlier this month.

‘T20 cricket is a great product and you obviously need to make it work in your region. That’s what CSA needs to continue to learn about and making it a better product year in and year out,’ added Kirsten.

‘Every region requires a slightly different version of the T20 product, I suppose. It’s about understanding what the requirements are of the South African market. It might be the timing of the games, it might be double-headers at grounds – whatever it is, you need to understand the landscape and get the best out of it.’

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