Telford Vice | Johannesburg
CRICKET itself was relegated to the wings in a year like no other. There were few successes for South Africa’s supporters to savour, and administrators who, until late in the piece, proved themselves anything but trustworthy custodians of the game. And, of course, there was Covid-19. Here are a few of the high and low lights:
The Cricket
Seven wins from 18 completed games — and the other 11 lost, and only one series won — is no-one’s idea of a good year at the office. South Africa’s sole success was in the ODI rubber against Australia in February and March, and they drew the ODIs against England. But that paled next to a Test series loss to England and T20I stumbles against Australia and England, twice. South Africa seemed to lose their grit, and with it their ability to fetch victory from unfetchable places, especially in white-ball games. They also lost Faf du Plessis as Test captain in February, but that wasn’t relevant until Sri Lanka arrived in December. Of greater significance was the instability in administration: CSA ended the year with its third acting chief executive amid multiple suspensions.
The Pandemic
England scrapped half of the six white-ball games they were to have played in December in the wake of positive tests for the virus from inside the squads’ shared bio-bubble in Cape Town. That cost CSA some USD1.9-million in broadcast revenue. Or did it? One of the last things Kugandrie Govender did before she was suspended as acting chief executive was insist that the money hadn’t been lost because the matches had been postponed, not cancelled. South Africa’s ODI series in India in March never happened. The first match was washed out and the other two cancelled. A white ball to Sri Lanka in June was scrapped. Test and T20 series against West Indies in the Caribbean and the US, originally scheduled to start in June before being moved to July and August, have yet to be allocated new dates. South Africa’s women’s team had series against Australia, West Indies and England called off.
What about domestic cricket?
CSA said in September that the third edition of the Mzansi Super League had been postponed to 2021 because of “various national and international logistical reasons caused by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic”. Closer to the probable truth was that it made sense to call off the money-bleeding tournament. Five rounds of the franchise first-class competition have been played, but a match in the most recent round was called off after a day because of positive tests. That led to the postponement, in December, of the entire sixth round. If there is an upside to the virus, it’s that domestic players remain on their full salary and that money is being saved on travel and accommodation costs.
Person of the Year
Nathi Mthethwa. You won’t find his name on a scorecard or among the administrators. But it was left to South Africa’s sports minister to knock some sense into the heads of CSA’s board, its members council, and the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee – which Mthethwa had initially directed to root out cricket’s rot. Under pressure from Mthethwa, the entire board resigned in October. In November, an interim board was appointed for three months with the buy-in of the members council, the South African Cricketers’ Association and the ministry. The new structure is not perfect. One of the nine members, Omphile Ramela, has been removed and another, Xolani Vonya, recused. And the chair, former constitutional court judge Zak Yacoob, has a tendency to hector some of those who question him. But, not before time, the suits’ pinstripes are pointing in the right direction.
What’s in store for 2021, on and off the field?
South Africa will finish their Test series against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers. Then they will be in Pakistan, for the first time since 2007, for two Tests and three T20Is in January and February. Australia are due in February to play three Tests, followed by Pakistan, for six white-ball games ending in April. All of which is, of course, Covid-permitting. And dependent on CSA staying in business, which is not a given. In November it announced a broadcast deal with Star reportedly worth up to USD105-million and another, in December, with Fox. But a projection that CSA will be USD68-million in debt by the end of the 2022 rights cycle still hangs over the organisation’s head. And there’s no telling what the pandemic will do to those figures.
One to look out for in 2021
Because of injuries, Wiaan Mulder hadn’t played a Test for 22 months when he earned his second cap against Sri Lanka at Centurion. Five wickets and a handy 36 in his only innings later, you wonder what might have been. And what might yet be …
First published by Cricbuzz.
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