Although Cricket South Africa announced in a tele-press conference on Thursday the likelihood of domestic cricket starting in January, there are still some ways Domestic cricket could have benefited from playing behind closed doors, writes Ongama Gcwabe.
The government’s efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 haven’t gone unnoticed but the reality is that it is likely we will be on Lockdown for the next two months.
By the time our cricket season starts, which is traditionally in October, the fans might still not be allowed to go to stadiums to watch live cricket.
Cricket South Africa like other sports governing bodies in South Africa has put scheduled programs on hold due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. They did, however, give some insight into their plans regarding the way forward.
CSA’s National Academy program that has played a vital role over the last few years is also among the programs that look very much unlikely to happen this year.
This program has been very crucial in South African cricket. We have seen players like Mbulelo Budaza, Tladi Bokako and Tony de Zorzi have great franchise seasons after attending the program.
As Cricket Fanatics Magazine was told by Proteas assistant coach Enoch Nkwe in an exclusive interview, the lockdown has also brought Proteas team culture camps to a standstill.
The management team had culture camps planned in an attempt to build a culture within the team and to come up with a message that resonates with the current Proteas squad.
The question I ask is – how would playing behind closed doors cricket have impacted cricket in the country?
I personally see a lot of positives in this situation. With the international borders closed, we are most likely going to have our star cricketers on show in domestic cricket. That is if they reject going to play in the IPL which has recently been scheduled to get underway in October.
There’s been a lot of talk about whether we have enough ‘international standard’ players in the domestic scene.
The thought of having the likes of Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, Faf du Plessis, Lungi Ngidi and Rassie van der Dussen back at franchise level is a satisfying thought.
The impact these players would have had on the franchise cricketers would have been massive. It would also attract a lot of deserved attention to the 4-Day competition.
Broadcasters like SuperSport will most likely be broadcasting at least one or two games in each round now that there’s these big names at franchise level again.
Managing director of English men’s cricket Ashley Giles admitted there is no guarantee any cricket will be played in England in 2020.
If the ECB cancels the season and eventually do away with ‘Kolpak’ players and switch to ‘overseas’ players, that might mean we will be having some star cricketers on show come October.
If the likes of Kyle Abbott, Simon Harmer, Dane Villas and Duanne Olivier decide to play franchise cricket again like Hardus Viljoen did, our domestic cricket will become much stronger.
Vernon Philander might also be available to play at the Cobras, maybe Hashim Amla as well and Morne Morkel might give it a go.
So, I believe there could have been major benefits of playing ‘Behind closed-doors’ cricket.
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