Johannesburg – Last November, I sat down with Thami Tsolekile for a chat shortly after he’d returned from Australia.
Tsolekile was angry. What he told me in that interview angered a few national selectors. Andrew Hudson, national convener of selectors, was called in before the board of directors of Cricket South Africa (CSA), some of whom were angry as well.
The upshot of all that anger was the board’s decision ahead of last weekend’s annual meeting – franchise teams would be required to pick at least one black African cricket player in their starting XIs. Two would see franchises reimbursed “the average contract cost”, of the player.
CSA recognised they have a serious transformation problem. Just five black African players have played Test cricket in the last 20 years, and of those only one could establish himself in the side for a prolonged time.
Hence the added proviso – players must be included “for more than 70 percent of the matches across all three formats”. Cricket SA will also be monitoring “the quality of opportunity, performance and progress made by black African players in the domestic competitions during the 2013/14 season”.
A number of black African players participating at junior provincial level simply aren’t making it through to senior level, and that is affecting Hudson and the selection panel’s ability to pick players – on merit – for the national side. Cricket SA’s vice-president, Peter Cyster, revealed an alarming statistic after the AGM. At the provincial under-19 week, 43 percent of participants were black African, but at the franchise level, just 12 percent of all players were black African, and very few of those were regular starting players.
By trying to force through more participation of black African players, CSA are also pressuring all provinces’ development structures, not only to draw in more players, but to sustain their development (and interest) from under-19 level through to maturation into first-class cricketers.
The reasons for the drop-off include economics, other interests and social demands. CSA need to understand those reasons better properly to benefit from the enormous resources they are putting into development at junior level.
The next five years are critical for CSA. In that period many of this outstanding Test team will step away, and for South African cricket to remain competitive for a long time, CSA need to widen the player base, sustain their interest in it and enhance their playing ability. They can’t afford anyone to be angry anymore.
The Star