The next generation of cricketers have an important responsibility to keep our game alive in South Africa, and exposing them to long-format cricket is essential to their development in all formats.

The interview with Meeka-eel Prince was very revealing. It unintentionally unmasked an issue in our system. Although it was good to hear about his story and journey in his career which led up to him hitting 166 for his new franchise North West in the One Day Cup, there were certain aspects about his projectorary that got me thinking. 

He mentioned to me that he had never played Time Cricket. 

Time cricket was a format that lasted over 2-days and was introduced at the Khaya Majola level. It was a great format that exposed young batters to batting for long periods without any time constrictions that they are faced with in limited-overs cricket. It gave bowlers the chance to bowl longer spells without a max on the over limitations they are faced with in limited-overs cricket. 

As Prince explained, he played in two Khaya Majola Weeks, and he never had the chance to play the Time Cricket format as it has since been scrapped at the U19 provincial week level. 

The other option would have been that younger players, who are good enough to play senior club cricket from a young age, would get exposure to red-ball cricket at club cricket in the 2-day format. This has also been scrapped. 

So how do our young batters prepare themselves for 4-Day Cricket? 

This is an issue that has to be answered if we want to produce high-quality Test batters. 

The overwhelming focus on the T20 game has shifted the focus of many young players. What has been forgotten, is that there are plenty of players who have excelled in the shorter format that have paid homage to the longer format for helping them improve their T20 game. 

So it is definitely worthwhile to continue exposing our young cricketers to the longer format of the game. 

It’s key that CSA comes up with a plan to create a tournament or a series of camps that prepares our youngsters to face the gruelling challenge of facing up to the red ball.