India officials to help run SA’s T20 league

Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) new T20 tournament – brought to you by the Indian Premier League (IPL). Or something like that.

“I am also delighted to announce that the Board of Control for Cricket in India [BCCI] have accepted our invitation to make some of their senior administrators‚ who have extensive experience in running the IPL‚ available to assist with the smooth running of our tournament‚” a CSA release on Wednesday quoted chief executive Thabang Moroe as saying.

“Their experience will be invaluable and will assist in ensuring that the league is one of international standing.”

The fact that the BCCI will be involved might come as a relief to those concerned that CSA will‚ for the second consecutive year‚ fail to deliver on their promise to stage the tournament.

India have shown‚ through the IPL‚ that they are masters at running T20 competitions.

They did so in SA in 2009‚ when the IPL came to town because it would coincide with elections that year and India’s security forces said they would not have enough resources to keep order all round.

But that success‚ achieved in no small part because of slick organisation at short notice by CSA and stadium staff around the country‚ came at the cost of R4.7m in undeclared bonuses from the BCCI that led to the sacking of then CSA chief executive Gerald Majola and the restructuring of the board.

The release also raised more alarm about CSA’s prospects for getting their event off the ground.

“The closing date for players to register [their interest to play in the competition] is 2 October 2018 and the player draft will take place on Wednesday 17 October 2018‚” it said.

Is there enough time for the world’s marquee players to commit to being part of a tournament that has not inspired confidence in its viability‚ or further evidence that CSA are out of their depth?