Benoni Zalmi sign coach Graeme Smith for SA T20
THE OWNERS of at least one of the franchises in Cricket SA’s Global T20 League tournament says he has no concerns about some of the teething problems which have beset the competition, including the inability to finalise a TV rights deal.
Javed Afridi, the senior owner of the Benoni Zalmi (meaning ‘youth’ in Urdu) is only too happy to be associated with the new league which starts in the first week of November. Afridi, also the CEO of Pakistan electronics company Haier, said despite Cricket SA still not having signed a broadcast deal, he was optimistic his brand would gain the necessary publicity. “Definitely, our brand will gain leverage from associating with such kind of activity,” Afridi, a cousin of Pakistani all-rounder Shahid, said yesterday.
Afridi’s franchise, one of eight that will participate in the six week tournament, yesterday unveiled former South African captain Graeme Smith as its head coach. Smith will be assisted by Highveld Lions coach Geoffrey Toyana.
This weekend sees the ‘player auction’ take place in Cape Town, where the various players will be placed with the franchises. As yet, no deal is in place to broadcast that event live, although it may be made available on-line.
Some of the sticking points around the deal involve costs, and it is understood CSA may be overvaluing its product. Should a deal be signed, as many insiders believe is likely in the coming weeks, it will leave the broadcaster needing to finalise advertising in a short space of time, particularly for a brand new event like the Global T20 tournament.
Smith said the tournament was a step in the right direction for Cricket SA, and that the organisation has got it’s foot in the door just in time as far as establishing a T20 franchise tournament is concerned. “We’ve seen what the IPL has done for Indian cricket and the Big Bash has been a huge success for Australia just in terms of attracting a young audience,” Smith said. “It’s important this tournament embodies the values of Cricket South Africa, if it does that it will be a huge success.”
Meanwhile Cricket SA is still awaiting word from the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India about the marquee series with India that was due to start in late December, but increasingly looks like only taking place in the new year.
While CSA insiders insist the tour will still contain four Tests, five One-Day Internationals and three T20s, it looks like that full schedule may have to be shoe-horned into a six week period from the middle of January with reports in India indicating that the BCCI are insisting their team play two warm-up games before the first Test. That means the Boxing Day Test will not feature in the schedule and the New Year’s Test at Newlands may be shifted back a week.
Cricket SA is understood to be in negotiations with another Board about playing a one-off Test over the Boxing Day period.
India’s previous tour to South Africa was mired in controversy after the schedule was cut, with the 2013 tour comprising just three ODIs and two Tests. That is unlikely to happen this time, with the two Boards having agreed on the structure two years ago ahead of the Proteas’s tour to India, which featured four Tests, five ODIs and three T20s.
However the loss again of the New Year’s Test at Newlands will be a particularly bitter pill for CSA to swallow.