Players ‘excited’ about Ram Slam
Proteas limited-overs batsman and Cape Cobras captain JP Duminy has said the postponement of the T20 Global League is a thing of the past and the Ram Slam Challenge is now the platform for players to express themselves.
The Cobras will be in action on Sunday when they face the Dolphins in the first match of a double-header at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
The tournament itself kicks off on Friday in Port Elizabeth when the Warriors will be hosting the Knights.
“It’s been a couple of weeks now, so that has come and gone‚” said Duminy.
“The focus has turned to the Ram Slam tournament now and every player is excited by the fact that there is a tournament and excited that it’s going to be a strong tournament.
“That was going to be the beauty of the T20GL because of the tournament being a strength on strength one.
“The disappointment is always going to be there and hopefully in years to come‚ a tournament of that stature will take place.
“Unfortunately‚ that’s out of our control and we need to focus on what’s in front of us.”
Because of the lack of international cricket‚ the Ram Slam will have all the internationally contracted players available for their franchises. This does not happen often because of the tournament taking place towards the end of the season.
But with SA’s summer Test season generally accepted now to be starting on Boxing Day (December 26)‚ this will ostensibly strengthen the teams.
The success of domestic T20 tournaments has been based on the availability of their international players‚ which is the case with the Indian Premier League even though they have vast sums of money to play with.
With his experience‚ Duminy knows the importance of the availability of international players for domestic tournaments.
“I look back to the time when I started playing for Western Province and there were quite a few senior players.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to part that knowledge and for them to rub shoulders with the likes of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers. There’s no better feeling for youngsters to come in and share a change-room with these players‚” Duminy said.
“I played a SA A game a few weeks ago and the guys were starstruck by the fact they were playing with AB de Villiers. It’s a boost for the domestic system.”