Excitement grows for Mzansi Super League

Anumber of team launches have seen the excitement for the new Mzansi Super League grow in the last week and, speaking to colleagues in the SABC, they are certainly very excited to be taking this major new part of our cricket calendar to the masses. More eyes on the game can only be good for South African cricket and the national broadcaster’s viewership and listenership numbers dwarf those of all competitors.

And for those concerned over what the quality of the broadcasts will be like, apparently a Singapore production company is being brought in to aid capacity.

In terms of what is planned for the actual games when it comes to off-field entertainment – all the razzmatazz (no, not Fikile Mbalula, for heaven’s sake) that is such a pervasive part of T20 cricket these days – nothing is really known and this has caused my overactive imagination to take some flights of fancy.

Even though my initial reaction to most of the team names and logos was “eeuw”, in the ab- sence of any marketing brief, I’m going to have to go with those as the basis for the at-venue activations (see, I’m even slipping into the lingo).

I am particularly excited by the possibilities when it comes to the Cape Town Blitz. Given the number of German and English immigrants now living in Cape Town, I am sure this was a brilliant piece of marketing aimed at attracting them to the MSL games – The Blitz being such a huge part of both their combined histories. Imagine their excitement when a squadron of Heinkels come flying over the Kelvin Grove End at Newlands, followed by Spitfires racing over the brewery to intercept them; take that Ellis Park and your jumbo jets!

Of course I may be reading way too much into the name and the e-sports fanatics who came up with it are probably thinking more along the lines of just having hundreds of braais dotted around Newlands with liberal supplies of firelighters. They don’t get out much so they probably think all cricket fans just want to braai.

Ken Borland

There is also always the chance that the rival broadcaster will prevent the opening game from taking place as they serve legal papers saying Blitz is their trademark, Channel 200 having existed in the SA sporting space for way longer than the MSL. Haroon Lorgat and the Global T20 League team owners are expected to apply for amici curiae status.

Meanwhile, the SuperSport Park based Tshwane Spartans have been busy planning as well ahead of meeting the Blitz in the opening game. Eyebrows were raised when they drafted so many non-Titans players into their squad, but Mark Boucher is an extremely crafty coach and I reckon getting Warriors Gihahn Cloete, Andrew Birch and Lutho Sipamla, Dolphins all-rounder Robbie Frylinck, and especially Rory Kleinveldt from their arch-rivals the Cape Cobras, under his control is just a scheme to find out exactly what makes the other franchises tick so the Titans can increase their dominance locally.

Off the field, I think the Centurion-based team are still hankering over the fun times they enjoyed with the highly entertaining, playboy owner of the Pretoria Mavericks, so I’m expecting chariot races (Spartans v Titans) and exotic dancers as their between-innings entertainment. On a site inspection made by the IPL this week, questions were apparently asked about the number of poles situated around the ground.

The Jozi Stars certainly know the value of celebrity and Chris Gayle dragging our number one fast bowler Kagiso Rabada around town to all the hotspots is exactly what the MSL needs.

I find it hard to take the Paarl Rocks seriously because all I can think of for them is brandy and some lifeless rocks scorched by the roasting summer sun, but I do expect the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants to roar. They have a number of tremendous T20 players in Imran Tahir, Chris Morris, Jon-Jon Smuts, Junior Dala, Christiaan Jonker, Aaron Phangiso and Marco Marais, and the frustration of being based in Port Elizabeth will no doubt make them angry, which as any sports psychologist worth their salt will tell you, is the key to good performance.

Which brings me to the Durban Heat, who I would give 10/10 to for their player draft even though they made a mess with Wayne Parnell and his reserve price. Theirs will either be the most apt name of all as their opponents wilt in the sapping sub-tropical heat and humidity, or the most inappropriate as all five of their home games are washed out, because that’s how the Durban weather is. But at least the Durban Heat will be guaranteed at least 10 points then.

And before anyone tries to sue me for these forecasts, please remember that sports prediction is an imperfect science, one only has to look at my SuperBru results to see that.