Domestic T20 competitions still undecided

THE 2018/19 domestic season once again has a schedule with a gaping hole in the middle of it, with local franchises, like the rest of the populace having to wait until the middle of September to know if they must prepare for a T20 competition.

Whether that is the new version of the T20 Global League or the local T20 Challenge is the mystery. Cricket SA officials remain optimistic it will be a competition with some overseas stars in it, though that probability appears to be ‘50-50.’

The domestic season will kick off officially in the last week of September with the now sponsor-less four-day competition pitting the Titans against the Dolphins at SuperSport Park. The tournament will run until the end of October, before the competition goes on hiatus until December.

The period in between is supposed to be filled with CSA’s new T20 tournament, but as yet there are no teams nor schedule.

According to the schedule, the local T20 Challenge – known as the RamSlam last season – will be played in April with the final set to take place on May 5.

However Cricket SA may repeat the schedule change they performed last season when the T20 Global League was cancelled and move that T20 Challenge to fill the hole in November.

No official communication has been made to the franchises about whether to change their plans as far as preparing for the T20 Challenge – which would feature the current six franchises; the Knights, Titans, Lions, Warriors, Dolphins and Cobras.

The T20 Challenge would be taking place at the same time as the Indian Premier League, which is due to start on March 29.

The Momentum One-Day Cup will be played in February and March, running concurrently with the One-Day series with Sri Lanka.

Cricket SA’s hinted that the Proteas who are bound for the World Cup could play in the latter stages of that competition – including the play-offs – as part of preparation for the Cup.

“The semi-finals and Final will take place immediately after the conclusion of the white-ball part of our home series against Sri Lanka,” CSA’s Thabang Moroe said.

The national men’s team has a busy summer ahead, starting at the end of September with a short three match ODI series against Zimbabwe.

The Proteas will play three ODIs in Australia in November following which there will be in-coming series across all three formats against Pakistan and then Sri Lanka.

The Willowton Group, which owns Sunfoil, announced yesterday it would no longer sponsor cricket in the country.

Sunfoil had been the sponsor of the domestic four-day competition, and was name sponsor for Test cricket on South African soil