Cricket breaks new ground
3TEAMCRICKET: INNOVATIVE CONCEPT TO CELEBRATE THE GAME’S RETURN
SA’s top players will try out the new format in Centurion next weekend.
Kagiso Rabada said playing cricket in midwinter on the Highveld will remind him of the freezing water in ice baths during school camps in the off-season, but the new Solidarity Cup 3TCricket match to be played at SuperSport Park in Centurion next Saturday might be an even bigger shock to the system for cricket purists.
South Africa’s first taste of live sport and cricket’s return will be a day of cricket lasting just 36 overs. But while this may seem to be a watered down version of cricket to go with such gimmicks as T10 and The Hundred, 3TCricket does at least bring some interesting innovations to the game.
Paul Harris, the former top banker and Cricket South Africa independent director, who will present the Solidarity Cup, came up with the concept, and sharp cricketing minds such as leading commentator Mark Nicholas, CSA director for cricket Graeme Smith and Proteas coach Mark Boucher have fine-tuned the idea. Former Springbok captain and Rugby World Cup winner Francois Pienaar, who has made such a success of the innovative VarsitySports stable, has come on board as CEO of 3TCricket.
“This is a new format and I’ve always believed that you can’t have too many formats of cricket.
Just from my playing days we’ve had single and double-wicket competitions and limited-overs cricket has gone from 65 overs a side to 10 and everything in between.
“So we are throwing it out there, we think it is exciting and fresh, and hopefully as we come out of Lockdown it will inspire children to watch. Of course the stadium will be empty, but hopefully there will be full lounges watching on SuperSport,” Nicholas said in a virtual launch yesterday.
The country’s leading limited-overs cricketers – barring the unavailable Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir – have all signed up for the game and superstars Rabada, Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers have been chosen to captain the three sides that will launch a brave new era. Government have come on board with the Solidarity Fund being the beneficiaries of the fundraising efforts on the day.
“We envisage this format helping our pipeline and we will introduce it to schools and clubs. As temporary custodians of the game we are tasked with taking the game to the people, which is difficult in a country with such inequality, but this is another vehicle to do that, which is wonderful. We think it will have a big impact, maybe even internationally.
“The world has been starved of cricket and the goal is to have it televised worldwide and we are in conversations with our broadcast partners about that. It’s great to be part of something innovative, launching a new product, and it’s a nice opportunity to share it. But it’s going to be tremendous just to be able to see live sport again,” Smith said.