South Africa to send C side to NZ to prioritize T20 League

[Around the Wicket]

Both Pakistan and West Indies haven't sent a full strength side to Australia and now...

Australian great Steve Waugh has savaged South Africa for its farcical squad announcement for an upcoming tour of New Zealand.

The South Africans named a 14-man squad which included seven uncapped players, most notably their new captain, opener Neil Brand.

The national team - which just beat India in a home Test - was ravaged by a ruling from Cricket South Africa which determined no players contracted to SA20 franchises were eligible for selection. Thus from the side which just beat India, only Keegan Petersen and David Bedingham remain.

It is a remarkable indication of South Africa’s priorities given they currently lead the 2023-25 World Test Championship standings (with one win from one Test).

The decision saw Waugh declare to the Nine papers: “Obviously they don’t care”.

It follows the comment he posted on Instagram: “Is this a defining moment in the death of Test cricket?

“History and tradition must count for something. If we stand by and allow profits to be the defining criteria the legacy of Bradman, Grace and Sobers will be irrelevant.”

Neither Pakistan nor the West Indies sent a full-strength side to Australia for this summer’s Test matches and Waugh fears the trend will continue, even from major nations, if changes are not made to the global cricket system.

“It’s going to happen if the South African Cricket Board are any indication of the future, keeping their best players at home,” he said.

“If I was New Zealand I wouldn’t even play the series. I don’t know why they’re even playing. Why would you when it shows a lack of respect for New Zealand cricket?

“It’s pretty obvious what the problem is. The West Indies aren’t sending their full-strength side (to Australia). They haven’t picked a full-strength Test team for a couple of years now.

“Someone like Nicholas Pooran is really a Test batsman who doesn’t play Test cricket. Jason Holder, probably their best player, is not playing now. Even Pakistan didn’t send a full side.

“If the ICC or someone doesn’t step in shortly then Test cricket doesn’t become Test cricket because you’re not testing yourself against the best players.

“I understand why players don’t come. They’re not getting paid properly. I don’t understand why ICC or the top countries who are making a lot of money don’t just have a regulation set fee for Test matches which is a premium, so people are incentivised to play Test Cricket.

“Otherwise they just play T10 or T20. The public are the ones who are going to suffers because it’s not the full side playing, so it’s not Test cricket.”

The enormous money involved in the IPL, and the power of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, are proving too much for many players to ignore.

It was estimated an IPL match is worth $21.7 million due to the enormous TV and digital rights deal in the subcontinent, ahead of the English Premier League at around $17 million.

Fears Test nations will become ‘IPL feeder clubs‘ as chorus of concern grows over South Africa farce

Fears Test nations will become ‘IPL feeder clubs‘ as chorus of concern grows over South Africa farce

www.foxsports.com.au

Thoughts?

 

[dogs105]

 

[HugeJohnson]

Would be funny if they won the series regardless.

 

[The 747]

All well and good for a rich man sitting in a rich country to bag CSA but the facts are that they are doing this because they have to financially.

We could tour SA for their Boxing Day test and make the some cash but we won't. We could tour NZ a lot more often and make them some cash but we won't. We could tour or host Bangladesh sometime ever. We could play Ireland, we could play Afghanistan. But we don't. Australia are part of the problem.

 

[Scorpus]

If Test cricket isn't financially viable or suitable for these nations and their players, why should they be obligated to send them to another country for that country's benefit?

The solution isn't to scream "history and tradition". History and tradition isn't exchangeable for cash and doesn't pay the bills

It's on the nations that want to play elite tier Test cricket to come up with a solution that means their opponents have an incentive to send a top tier squad for Tests. That means England, Australia and India sacrificing some of the pie. If they aren't willing to do that, they should absolutely expect their opponents to send B teams as they prioritize their own interests

 

[PhatBoy]

If Waugh loves test cricket so much he should know that Nicholas Pooran - ‘a test batsman’ - has never made a first class century. He’s played five games. Stop picking and choosing when you give a s**t mate. You give a s**t right now because the West Indies are on your doorstep and you just found out about the SA series. Most fans knew about it ages ago.

Take a stand and use the immense pulling power you have and actually do something about it

 

[frankrizzo]

while australia are one of the bad guys in this i think we also have to accept all roads lead to india and india have made the call to kill test cricket for most sides, india can use their clout and financial strength to prop up the test sides or they can use it to buy up worlds 20/20 comps and players and force test cricket into a sport played less frequently by 3-4 teams and they have clearly decided the latter is the way to go why fight the ICC for their revenue share when they can simply take over the entire cricket calendar in the future

I think we just have to accept test cricket as we know it is coming to an end maybe lot faster than we thought, yes we will still have ashes and few other big series but test cricket overall is going to pushed to the margins round the world in next 10 years.

 

[The 747]

while australia are one of the bad guys in this i think we also have to accept all roads lead to india and india have made the call to kill test cricket for most sides, india can use their clout and financial strength to prop up the test sides or they can use it to buy up worlds 20/20 comps and players and force test cricket into a sport played less frequently by 3-4 teams and they have clearly decided the latter is the way to go why fight the ICC for their revenue share when they can simply take over the entire cricket calendar in the future

I think we just have to accept test cricket as we know it is coming to an end maybe lot faster than we thought, yes we will still have ashes and few other big series but test cricket overall is going to pushed to the margins round the world in next 10 years.

Why should India do that when the other boards won't? BCCI does what is best for Indian cricket.

 

[frankrizzo]

Why should India do that when the other boards won't? BCCI does what is best for Indian cricket.

I didnt say they should or shouldnt but reality is test cricket is no longer viable for most teams unless boards like india help fund it for them so they will stop playing it and take money from boards like india to help run 20/20 leagues which will then give year round control of their players to BCCI and test cricket will die outside few series it just is what it is.

 

[The 747]

I didnt say they should or shouldnt but reality is test cricket is no longer viable for most teams unless boards like india help fund it for them so they will stop playing it and take money from boards like india to help run 20/20 leagues which will then give year round control of their players to BCCI and test cricket will die outside few series it just is what it is.

Don't disagree, but if it is not viable then it is not viable. Not much that can be done.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Yuk
T20 cricket

 

[frankrizzo]

Don't disagree, but if it is not viable then it is not viable. Not much that can be done.

No its sad but i have accepted its just way sport is moving some will like it this way others like me will move on from cricket and follow other sports i already follow, i just have no interest in a cricket future which is mostly domestic clubs as the primary action playing year round 20/20 so i will stop watching when that time comes but i accept enough feel other way and want more 20/20 so thats where sports going.

 

[frankrizzo]

Only real question is how fast this all happens, once gloves are off and they do start buying players on year long domestic 20/20 contracts we may see saudia arabia get more heavily involved then i could see even aus/english players start retiring from internationals to get their share if its anything like golf the contracts will be far bigger than anything CA can match.

 

[jiphoc]

Why should India do that when the other boards won't? BCCI does what is best for Indian cricket.

Pretty sure there is a profit share model of sorts. You could very easily for example set $$ rates for all players globally playing a test, International T20 or ODI and then pay it out of the of the "profit pool" before it reaches teams (so per match basis... outside of the central contracts). It would then be directly linked to the FTP.

It would not solve the problem. It would however be a massive step in the right direction.

 

[jiphoc]

If Waugh loves test cricket so much he should know that Nicholas Pooran - ‘a test batsman’ - has never made a first class century. He’s played five games. Stop picking and choosing when you give a s**t mate. You give a s**t right now because the West Indies are on your doorstep and you just found out about the SA series. Most fans knew about it ages ago.

Take a stand and use the immense pulling power you have and actually do something about it

Pooran is an elite talent. If he played test cricket he would be averaging ~40 and have at least a few test 100s against his name. Only reason he doesn't is because West Indies are a mess.

 

[PhatBoy]

Pooran is an elite talent. If he played test cricket he would be averaging ~40 and have at least a few test 100s against his name. Only reason he doesn't is because West Indies are a mess.

No one really knows that and even as someone who wants all our best players on deck, and thinks there are a number of good players that I would love to have in the mix, he’s one I’m not totally sold on. He’s a very good milker when he’s switched on. It’s one of the reasons his list A and ODI records are good, because when the pressure is off and the field goes back, and he has some time, he can play comfortable cricket. He panics when time isn’t on his side and I’m not sure how well he would translate to having the field up all the time in test cricket either. He doesn’t have a shortage of shots I know that, but look at Shai Hope and how phenomenal he is in ODI cricket. It hasn’t translated to test matches and he HAS been available.

 

[philreich]

The crowd at Adelaide Oval on January 17 will be fascinating. The fans have had their pink ball Test taken away from them, replaced by a day Test in mid January against a weak West Indian team - starting on a Wednesday!!!

 

[Gavin Excell]

The crowd at Adelaide Oval on January 17 will be fascinating. The fans have had their pink ball Test taken away from them, replaced by a day Test in mid January against a weak West Indian team - starting on a Wednesday!!!

They'll still get double the Perth crowds

 

[Some Idiot]

I didn't realise things were this bad. Does anyone other than the big 3 prioritise test cricket any more?

 

[PhatBoy]

I didn't realise things were this bad. Does anyone other than the big 3 prioritise test cricket any more?

I would say that NZ and Pakistan probably do in some capacity - remember that Pakistan didn’t even have a home until less than 2 years ago - but other teams need to be hosting them.

Bangladesh can’t prioritise test cricket if the good teams don’t want to play them. Neither can anyone else. Test matches require two teams to play and for teams to stage series and matches, they need money to play them. To get money, they need to be playing the teams that can afford to give them a decent cash injection.

So in theory for the poorer nations to afford to play decent length series against one another, they need to have money that they get from playing the stronger nations: hopefully for example pakistan have done well from playing Australia this series and from hosting Australia last year, and hosting England last year as well (or 2022 at least anyway).

 

[Cmarsh]

CricketSA put out a statement on attempting to address the concerns around their squad to NZ.

Basically blame scheduling without directly addressing the quality of the team they are sending, while trying assure they have the 'upmost respect' for test cricket. Not convincing.

Cricket South Africa | CSA BOARD STATEMENT ON SA SQUAD FOR NEW ZEALAND TOUR

 

[010203]

Where this saddens me most is you could argue that Australia vs South Africa has been the great rivalry in cricket from the time South Africa returned to international cricket. My worry is this great rivalry may not be that any longer.

It's before my time but the battle for the Sir Frank Worrall trophy was a great rivalry too. Now it's nostalgia that is used to pump up an Australia vs West Indies series. Australia vs South Africa could be heading the same way

I expect South Africa to win their series against India 2-0. A full strength South African team stands a good chance of continuing their record of having never lost a test series to New Zealand. Their remaining series in this WTC cycle are away to the West Indies, away to Bangladesh which will be followed by home series against Pakistan and the West Indies.

That's a pretty generous WTC schedule, yet they're willing to probably cop a 2-0 loss in New Zealand and ruin what should be a good start to this WTC cycle to prioritise T20 cricket. Inconceivable to us but it's sadly the way forward to many other countries.

 

[PhatBoy]

Where this saddens me most is you could argue that Australia vs South Africa has been the great rivalry in cricket from the time South Africa returned to international cricket. My worry is this great rivalry may not be that any longer.

It's before my time but the battle for the Sir Frank Worrall trophy was a great rivalry too. Now it's nostalgia that is used to pump up an Australia vs West Indies series. Australia vs South Africa could be heading the same way

I expect South Africa to win their series against India 2-0. A full strength South African team stands a good chance of continuing their record of having never lost a test series to New Zealand. Their remaining series in this WTC cycle are away to the West Indies, away to Bangladesh which will be followed by home series against Pakistan and the West Indies.

That's a pretty generous WTC schedule, yet they're willing to probably cop a 2-0 loss in New Zealand and ruin what should be a good start to this WTC cycle to prioritise T20 cricket. Inconceivable to us but it's sadly the way forward to many other countries.

You’re right, on paper they stand a good chance of almost going undefeated; their questionable pedigree against spin is actually probably their biggest danger.

At the moment given the turmoil im ALMOST getting my hopes up that WI can compete. Almost…

Last summer was such a disappointment after what you rightly point out has been such a great rivalry with the Aussies. It probably hasn’t carried QUITE the same level of bitterness as India but there have been 5-6 absolutely classic series and given that it represents a lot of what both countries love so much - fast aggressive bowling, tough batsmen, aggressive strokeplay etc, it would be such a shame for that to fall by the wayside

 

[Mateyman]

Who actually watches the T20 leagues? I don't actually know anyone who follows or cares about them so I don't really understand how they generate so much revenue.

 

[PhatBoy]

Who actually watches the T20 leagues? I don't actually know anyone who follows or cares about them so I don't really understand how they generate so much revenue.

As it does actually fit in with my work schedule - I work from home and have the tv on most mornings and there’s nothing else on, and it’s the closest I get to being able to watch live West Indian cricket at a reasonable hour, I DO watch a fair bit of CPL but I would watch a test against Bangladesh ten times over if I could choose