Cricket SA needs to show 20-20 vision to save new league
It was about time something worked in favour of Cricket SA’s new T20 league, which is battling to hang on to the remnants of its credibility just three months short of its scheduled start in November.
But the yet-to-be-named league has caught a fortunate break with the postponement of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), which will free up many of the game’s biggest names and, theoretically, draw global attention to whatever Cricket SA has in mind to replace the imploded Global League.
The BPL was set to run in direct competition with Cricket SA’s new venture but the Bangladesh Cricket Board has been forced to postpone the sixth edition of their flagship event because it clashes with the country’s general election and police security cannot be guaranteed for the teams.
The BPL has now been rescheduled for January — in direct competition with Australia’s Big Bash — leaving the six teams with almost no chance of retaining their bigname players for the tournament. But it does mean they will now be available to play for SA’s six teams, if and when the tournament starts.
The new tournament may have been reduced from eight to six teams, but in most other aspects it has halved in size, at least. Whereas marquee South African players were bought for between $100,000 and $120,000 in the Global League draft, they are more likely to command $50,000 if and when the new draft takes place.
Whether the reduced tournament budget is sufficient to lure the regular international T20 mercenaries will be seen this week when invitations to enter the draft are made public. It matters not whether South African supporters have seen enough of Dwayne Bravo, Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle and David Warner, but SuperSport needs to sell the production to other broadcasters to make it financially viable.
However, all this may still be irrelevant. All is not well within the wreckage of the Global League and its smouldering remains may yet be dangerous enough to derail its successor — and worse. At least five of the original eight Global League franchise owners are not prepared to accept defeat.
They met in Mumbai and Dubai last week, resulting in Nelson Mandela Bay Stars owner Ajay Sethi saying: “It is clear that Cricket SA is not committed to fulfilling their side of the deal with the bona fide T20 GL owners. The meetings in Dubai and Mumbai were attended by the owners and representatives of Nelson Mandela Bay Stars, Durban Qalandars, Joburg Giants, Stellenbosch Kings and Pretoria Mavericks. It is evident that there is no interest by the Cricket SA leadership to go ahead with the T20 Global League in its original format.
“They have continuously changed their position and have shown to have no interest in working with the current T20 Global League owners. We now strongly feel they don’t wish to fulfil their commitment towards the owners. The owners have no option but to go the legal route to protect our interests.
“We are extremely disappointed and angered by the unethical behaviour demonstrated by the leadership of Cricket SA,” Sethi said.
Should a legal challenge go ahead, the cost to Cricket SA will not only be in astronomical fees but also the lost income of the new league that will start and remain in the red for at least five years. The Cricket SA reserves of R600m could be spent within a couple of years, with little opportunity to replenish them.
Now is the time for serious leadership. Not committees, bosberaads or management meetings, but eye-to-eye, trustbuilding assurances.
Cricket SA CEO Thabang Moroe, CFO Naasei Appiah and independent directors Iqbal Khan and Louis von Zeuner were in Mumbai to meet the disgruntled franchise owners last week. If they were not able to appease them — and Sethi’s comments suggest a distinct lack of cordiality — then there may be no new league.
No new revenue stream. No fresh incentive for SA’s best players to stay in the country and compete for a Proteas contract. Troubling times.