Johannesburg — Cricket South Africa starts another new domestic season for the sport, with sponsors notably absent from all major domestic competitions.
Cricket SA’s ‘Summer of Cricket’ kicks off with an unglamourous Division 2, T20 Knockout competition that will be hosted in Pietermaritzburg and in East London from September 30. The competition will also feature the SA Under-19 team, which is in desperate need of match time as it builds in the next World Cup cycle.
As has become the norm for domestic competitions, all the tournaments are without sponsors, an indication of the economic hardships in the country that were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Cricket SA’s recent administrative problems didn’t help the situation either, and it is clear a lot of work is needed to rebuild relationships and trust. It was also notable that the men’s Test side recently had no corporate sponsor for a high profile series in England and Cricket SA is desperate to try and resolve that issue ahead of the next Test assignment in Australia in December.
The entire Division 1 T20 tournament will be held in Potchefstroom, over the course of three weeks, another indication of belt tightening at the organisation, which this year is relying heavily on the SA20 T20 tournament to give the local game a much needed financial boost.
That competition, which will host its play auction next week, does appear to have attracted all the attention its way for the new season leaving the CSA T20 Challenge, the CSA One-Day and the CSA 4-Day Series to be played out on the margins of the season.
Next season of course sees the culmination of the new promotion/relegation system, that was utilised over a two year period. All teams across the two divisions earn points determined by where they finished in the three different competitions.
The Titans, which won the 4-day series last summer and finished as runners-up in the T20 competition, are currently the top team in Division 1, while the Northern Cape Heat from Kimberley’s top Division 2. The bottom team in Division 1 is the Knights, from Bloemfontein.
IOL Sport