Boland owner may ‘bowl a few people over’
CRICKET SOUTH AFRICA chief executive Haroon Lorgat isn’t having sleepless nights about the Stellenbosch Monarchs still being without an owner even after the T20 Global League player draft was completed in the city yesterday.
Brimstone Investment Corporation, the South African investment company which was originally unveiled as one of the eight franchise owners of the T20 Global League in June, ended their interest in pursuing ownership of the Boland franchise earlier this month.
This left CSA to take on the responsibility of setting up the franchise prior to the 3 November tournament kickoff.
Captain Faf du Plessis and assistant coach Eric Simons along with T20 Global League ambassador Paul Adams, in conjunction with various CSA support staff, manned the Monarch’s player draft over the weekend in head coach Stephen Fleming’s absence.
“You always have this challenge, where someone might have reason (to withdraw). We were ready for that. So, it wasn’t an issue for us,” Lorgat said of Brimstone’s withdrawal.
“The amazing thing is that it’s going to be (a) blessing. We have got a number of interested parties. Hopefully very, very soon we can make the announcement which will surprise and certainly showcase the attraction of this league.
“I have no doubt that (it) is going to bowl a few people over. We made the decision long before we went to the market for owners, that should there be a need for CSA to ‘warehouse’ a team in lieu of an owner to come.”
The sale of the tournament’s broadcasting rights has yet to be finalised either, with the weekend’s player draft being live-streamed on social media channels Facebook and YouTube.
“There’s a lot around the commercial aspects where we want to make sure we get the best deals for everyone concerned, including a broadcaster,” Lorgat said. “So, we could go early and secure a deal and then say we shouldn’t have, because there is a lot more concerned. Or alternatively you can do it as late as possible. In our view it was better to do it after the owners were announced. And after the players were announced. There is now concrete evidence of what you selling.”
For all the commercial benefits CSA are hoping to gain with the T20 Global League, it remains the custodian of the game, with a responsibility to spread it to the masses.
Already only the Proteas home internationals are aired on free-to-air television, with pay channel SuperSport holding the monopoly on all domestic cricket and all Proteas matches played abroad.
“It will be great if we can get free-to-air because that’s where the majority of people have TV. But there is a commercial aspect to it. We did say we want to generate a league that will provide the commercial returns that will grow the game. It is a balancing act, which we will consider, that we can at least have some form of the tournament on a free-to-air channel,” Lorgat said.