Winds of change sweeping in at rate of knots
I’m going to be banging on about change again in this column, I’m afraid, but this time it’s about cricket, where fans better get used to dramatic changes from next summer.
Many South African cricket fans, of course, often want change just for change’s sake, which is the only way to interpret calls in recent times for Stephen Cook to be dropped or for Quinton de Kock to move up the order and give up the wicketkeeping gloves.
The De Kock suggestion is the more outlandish of the two because the Proteas are currently winning with the left-hander scoring plenty of runs, so why fix what ain’t broke? Australia used the great Adam Gilchrist in the same role in Test cricket during arguably their most successful era, and there’s no other wicketkeeper/ batsman currently bashing down the door to take over the gloves from De Kock either, although I do rate Heinrich Klaasen highly in terms of future prospects.
To drop Cook right now would also be a terrible selection. Again, changes to a winning team should be kept to a minimum and are we really going to axe a man who has had four lean Tests in tough conditions for openers after scoring three centuries in the seven Tests before that?
Once South Africa go to England then Cook’s form in those conditions can be judged properly because he will be playing some county cricket for Durham, while Aiden Markram is surely going to be part of the SA A team that is going to be touring at the same time.
Ken Borland
It is also highly unlikely that Dane Piedt will play as a second frontline spinner in Hamilton. South Africa would be crazy to leave out any of Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada or Vernon Philander, who have all done a great job in pressurising the New Zealand batsmen, despite their figures suggesting lean pickings.
That would mean leaving out a batsman to make way for Piedt, which does not make sense when you are leading the series and needing only a draw in the last Test to win the rubber. The sensible option is to load the batting so you can first make enough runs to ensure you don’t lose.
The big change that is coming from next summer is that fans of T20 will be able to watch twice as much of the shortest format of the game as before. While the new Global Destination League will take over peak viewing times at the height of summer, it seems the current franchise T20 competition will continue, albeit towards the end of the season.
As I’ve always warned about T20 cricket, it is built on a large portion of novelty factor and I seriously wonder how many people will be watching in April? Apparently this is being done so existing franchise sponsors still get their exposure.
The Global Destination League will also be played in “clean” stadiums, with all existing advertising removed, just as it was when South Africa hosted the IPL in 2009. Season-ticket holders and suite owners will also have to fork out extra for the new T20 competition.
Change is also happening at SuperSport Park in Centurion where chief operating officer Patricia Kambarami is leaving to become the head of the Africa Cricket Association.
Patricia has really left her mark on the Titans during her 14 years with them, doing fantastic work in terms of marketing, public and media relations, transformation and running a truly ship-shape operation.