Young players getting exposure, but gap between haves and have-nots widens

The YesPlay Pro20 Cup has proved beneficial to players and unions in Division 2, and while it’s added to the costs for Cricket SA (CSA), it’s generally felt that persevering with it is worthwhile.

The tournament enters its Super Eight phase after the last round of group fixtures this afternoon and, while the Division 1 teams have dominated, the Mpumalanga Rhinos, KZN-Inland Tuskers and South Western Districts Badgers, have made an impression — and all three remain in contention for a spot in the next round.

“The standard’s been pretty good. It’s not SA20 or IPL [Indian Premier League], but it’s not worse than some of the other leagues I’ve played in around the world, where a certain number of associate players have to participate,” said Rassie van der Dussen.

The veteran Lions batter is well placed to judge. Besides playing in 57 T20 Internationals, Van der Dussen has played at the IPL, the Pakistan Super League, the SA20, the Canadian T20 League and more recently the newly established European T20 Premier League.

“[The Pro20 Cup] is a great tournament overall because it gives the lower teams some exposure,” he said.

There is a lot of young talent in this country and that is really exciting for the future — Rory Kleinveldt

Getting exposure

That involves not only facing Proteas like Van der Dussen, Dewald Brevis or Reeza Hendricks, but also mundane elements like playing at night. “The Border guys were telling me that most of them had not played under lights. It’s great for them to experience that and get that exposure.”

Although a gulf in class has been noticeable, the fact that three second division teams remain in contention for the next phase, illustrates the quality of talent in the lower rung, and how they’ve gradually improved.

“There is a lot of young talent in this country and that is really exciting for the future,” said Western Province coach, Rory Kleinveldt.

“For us as coaches, our job is nurturing that talent and making sure these guys come through the system and go on to bigger and better things.”

But South Africa’s talent pool has never been a concern. Van der Dussen says expanding the tournament and creating more fixtures, not only helps the integrity of the competition, but through simply playing more, improvements will occur.

As opposed to seven league fixtures last season, by including all 15 provincial teams in one competition, and adding an SA Emerging side (which is made up of a mixture of junior players, and cricketers released by their unions for the duration of the tournament), the teams that qualify for the semifinal will play 12 matches.

More financial losses

More cricket also means more expense for Cricket SA. The organisation announced a R440m loss in the last financial year and is anticipating more losses next year.

Albertus Kennedy, the CEO of second division union SWD, believes the tournament, in its current format, needs to stay.

“There was a lot of doubt whether it would work. And I think the fact that an anchor sponsor was found so late, didn’t help with marketing. But in the future, hopefully that will be better. I’m sure CSA, along with everyone, will have a proper debrief afterward, and look into any problems, and also what can be improved.”

With the tournament being broadcast by SuperSport and streamed via CSA’s Youtube channel, unions like SWD have attracted new viewers. “It has improved opportunities for us on a commercial basis,” Kennedy said.

Crowd numbers for provincial matches have remained low, but Kennedy feels that through better scheduling that can improve. “If we can get a good Div 1 team on a Friday, or weekend, we’ll get a good crowd — that kind of favourable time slot would be beneficial.”

A stark difference

The differences between teams in division one, especially bigger unions like the Lions, Dolphins, WP, and the Titans, compared with most teams in Division 2, remains stark. “For some of the teams it’s been a bit eye-opening in terms of the standards and intensity of top level cricket. Maybe that’s a good perspective for them, so that they see how far it is that they still have to go,” said Van der Dussen.

“In Cape Town, we are lucky; we have a strong school system, and a strong club system to draw on, whereas Limpopo or Mpumalanga, are probably not as fortunate as us,” Kleinveldt said.

Any hidden gems, however, will be spotted sooner than was the case in previous years. “When you’re playing in Div 2, it’s almost a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’; whereas now, if you can put in a few good performances against big teams,

“I think teams will look at you a bit differently. When contracting comes up, there’ll be some names thrown around from Div 2, and we never used to see that,” said Van der Dussen.