Black mark against the game
Transformation question still more than a bit off-colour
● When Temba Bavuma was dropped from the national team at the start of the ongoing Test series against England, every Tom, Dick and Harry suddenly had an opinion about transformation in cricket.
What wasn’t addressed, nor asked, of Cricket SA and of the franchise system, was what has been done to develop black African batsmen who could step into Bavuma’s shoes in the event of injury or loss of form.
Batsmen of colour are there and, when given the opportunity, make their mark.
Knights top-order batsman Keegan Petersen, originally from Paarl and who joined the Central Franchise on loan from the Cape Cobras in 2016, was the four-day Franchise Series’ top run-maker.
In last season’s top 20 run getters, three of them were black Africans — Warriors youngster Sinethemba Qeshile (fifth with 735 runs at 52), Grant Mokoena from the Knights (16th with 524 runs at 29) and the Dolphins’ Sibonelo Makhanya (18th with 503 runs at 31).
There were three other batsmen of colour in Warriors duo Yaseen Vallie and Gihahn Cloete, and Zubayr Hamza (Cape Cobras).
With two Four-Day Franchise Series rounds left at the end of March, there’s no black African batsmen in the top 20 runmakers with Knights wicketkeeper/batsman Wandile Makwetu (23rd with 342 runs from eight innings in five games at 57) the only one who comes close.
Qeshile (25th), Makhanya (33rd) and Mokoena (28th) — 311 runs at 25.91) are on the top 20 periphery, but nowhere close to pressing for a SA A case.
These numbers point to a problem with the pipeline, but CSA’s acting head of cricket pathways Eddie Khoza said they’re well on their way to resolving issues surrounding the lack of black African batsmen.
“When we started the player-performance plan in 2016, initially it was for black African batsmen, but we realised it speaks to the entire system. The aim was to close performance gaps in the system. It’s not like we don’t have players, but the system is starting to show that role clarity and the quality of opportunity in a defined position is important,” Khoza said.
“We’ve appointed dedicated coaches to drive this player-performance programme to bridge gaps in the system, especially from primary to high school. It’s still a work in progress.”
Role clarity emerged as the crucial component of the player performance programme in an effort to avoid black African batsmen from being shunted around the order without getting sufficient crease time.
This could also lead to an issue where batsmen without the requisite ability and skill are thrown into the top-order deep end for the sake of making up performance targets.
Khoza agreed that black African batsmen in particular shouldn’t be placed in teams with the aim of making up numbers, something that franchise and semi-professional teams were accused of in the past.
“The player-performance programme looks at long-term results, while the shortterm fix at franchise level is bringing in consultants.
Time in the middle
“At least roles are clearly defined, from where if players have gaps, they can be coached to close those performance gaps. We have to move from the notion that making the starting 11 is good enough. We need them to perform,” Khoza said.
“In the Proteas team, there are nine guys who came through the talent acceleration programme and Wandile Makwetu is part of that process that produces these talented youngsters. It’s good that he’s at a franchise that’s given him a role. You also want them to be guaranteed so that they don’t suffer from the yo-yo effect with one or two games.”
Former Proteas ODI bowler and current SA Under-19 convenor of selectors, Victor Mpitsang, said the lack of time for cricket at post-school level has disadvantaged black African batsmen who didn’t go to traditional cricket schools.
“I was introduced to three-day cricket when I was under-19 and that’s always the best start, and that’s something that’s found at the Academy Week system, because that’s where the basics are impressed. You need to play longer-format cricket, and at schools most teams play limited-overs cricket. It’s from the traditional cricket schools that we see a lot of batters coming through because it’s about time in the middle.”
The short-term fix at franchise level is ... consultants Eddie Khoza CSA’s acting head of cricket pathways
Three-day cricket is always the best start Victor Mpitsang SA Under-19 convenor of selectors