“The game needs leadership right now. In ten years time, I don’t think the world wants to see three nations playing each other,” said Cricket South Africa’s Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith. 

With the cricket calendar being disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith explained that cricket boards were scrambling to fill out their schedules, except it was the less financially secure boards that suffered the ramifications of the lack of cricket a lot more. “The ICC found itself off-guard with some of these issues,” Smith said. 

After Cricket Australia pulled out of its tour to South Africa, Pakistan agreed to a limited-overs tour of three ODIs and four T20s in April.

Originally scheduled for October 2020, Pakistan touring South Africa has given CSA the opportunity to provide players and viewers much-needed international cricket content. Smith’s priority, given the challenges of playing cricket in a pandemic, is ensuring that “cricket gets played.”

“I expect the winter program to be very busy for the men’s national team,” Smith said. Similarly, Smith is determined to have South Africa’s women cricketers play a higher volume of cricket as well. “We want to build a busier FTP going forward,” stated Smith. 

Organizing tours, Smith explained, “has been an intense process.”

“It is definitely increasing the expense of tours,” Smith expounded. In particular, “it’s also a process with members nations figuring out who pays for what.”

However, “the most important thing is to get cricket played.” From the player’s point of view, Smith wants them to use these opportunities to tour the world and perform as best as they can.

The feedback Smith received from the Pakistan tour was generally positive. While the additional security that comes with touring Pakistan may have contributed to a little bit of stress, “our players were extremely happy with how they were looked after.”

Additionally, CSA has been proactive in looking after players by working with SACA, employing psychologists, and administering questionnaires on a regular basis.

“The players have been good and committed to playing,” Smith said. With respect to domestic competitions, Smith said the CSA T20 tournament would take place in a bubble, while the four-day tournament would require separate medical protocols. 

Smith is committed to increasing the amount of women’s cricket the national team plays internationally and domestically. “We need to increase the talent pool and challenge for national honours.” “Internationally, there are a number of things in the pipeline we’re looking to sign off. Our winter and summer programs will be busy for both our teams,” concluded Smith.