Local cricket needs a boost

Interest in local cricket in South Africa plummeted to new depths over the past weekend as an empty Wanderers witnessed an incredible finish to the CSA Four Day Series with the Lions beating Western Province in a brilliant match.

It was a superb encounter that saw the visitors in charge for large portions of the game, only for the hosts to fight back and in the end clinch a win, in what was a great advertisement of local cricket. However, sadly there were no fans to see it.

After the packed stadiums and incredible support that was seen during the second edition of the SA20, it was extremely sad to see how little interest there was in watching players who could be next in line to become Proteas Test stars.

In fact, when the Western Province batters walked in to take guard on the morning of the final day, there were more birds on the field than fans in the stands.

The blame however shouldn’t be laid at the feet of the fans, but on administrators in the game and Cricket South Africa, as they have shown very little interest in marketing and keeping any interest in local cricket alive.

The CSA One Day Cup final, which was played between Western Province and North West Dragons at Newlands in October last year was sparsely supported, as barely any fans turned out to watch the home side lift the trophy.

Tomorrow evening the CSA T20 Challenge gets underway across the country, and it will be interesting to see how many people bother turning out to watch.

Many might not even know that it is on, as other than a few press releases from CSA, and some sent from the various unions, there has been no other marketing or advertising done to drum up interest.

The question has to be whether CSA have completely given up on fans supporting local cricket, other than the flagship SA20, which seems to be largely run by IPL franchises anyway.

You also have to wonder what sort of impact this will have on youngsters wanting to pursue a career in cricket in the future.