“There’s 100% buy-in for CSA’s T20 league, not only from a financial aspect but also from the perspective of the cricketing landscape in South Africa.” – Rassie van der Dussen
Telford Vice / Catania, Sicily
SOUTH Africa’s marquee players have given their blessing to CSA’s new T20 league — even if it risks the team’s direct qualification for next year’s ODI World Cup.
The players appreciate the importance of the venture in securing cricket’s sustainability in the country, and they don’t think a planned simultaneous tournament in the UAE would lure the top names away from South Africa.
“There’s 100% buy-in [for the South African league], not only from a financial aspect — the guys will earn some extra money — but also from the perspective of the cricketing landscape in South Africa,” Rassie van der Dussen told Cricbuzz. “We understand the world scenario and the need for a league to make the board and the game in the country financially viable.”
CSA’s league is set to be played in January, and they want South Africa’s top players to be involved to lend the project credibility and status in a calendar that is fast becoming cluttered with similar tournaments. “Everyone’s excited for the league and the role that we play in it to make it successful; everyone’s on board with that,” Van der Dussen said.
But that has forced South Africa’s withdrawal from an ODI series in Australia, which was set to clash with the league — and which carried World Cup Super League points. South Africa are currently 11th in the standings. Only the top eight will earn berths at the 10-team 2023 World Cup in India. The remaining two places will be decided at a qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in June and July next year. As things stand, South Africa will have to follow that path to India.
“If it means we have to go and qualify for a World Cup, while looking at the greater good of the game in the next 15 to 20 years, that’s a small price to pay,” Van der Dussen said. “This sport has given us all so much. It’s unfortunate that we’re going to have to forfeit those points, especially against Australia. But if we have to go to Zim, we’ll do that.”
A rival to CSA’s league is being put together in the UAE, where organisers seem to be gearing up to pay players more than in any tournament aside from the IPL. Might Van der Dussen’s compatriots choose to go to the Persian Gulf instead? “The MSL showed us what the quality of cricket is like in South Africa, and as a destination the guys would probably want to be at home. I doubt we’ll see the guys go to the UAE league.”
Besides all that, T20 tournaments present opportunities for struggling players to regain their form. Aiden Markram, for instance, went to this year’s IPL having reached 50 for South Africa only twice in 20 innings across the formats. In 14 trips to the crease for Sunrisers Hyderabad he scored 381 runs — among them three half-centuries — at an average of 47.63 and a strike rate of 139.05. Now back in national colours, he has made two 50s in four white-ball innings on the current tour of England.
“Confidence is a massive thing in this game, especially as a batter,” Markram told a press conference on Tuesday. “The tournament certainly provided me with confidence and belief that I was probably lacking prior to the IPL. It played a role in putting me in a better space mentally and giving me that little bit more belief that I can compete on that stage with some of the really good cricketers in the world.”
There is a world of difference between T20 franchise tournaments and the international game, but if they retread, refresh and reboot players like Markram, their detractors should be grateful. Especially if they support teams who have to scrap it out at a qualifier to make it to the World Cup.
First published by Cricbuzz.
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