Players to benefit from new TV deal

CRICKET South Africa has taken a load of flak for the leading role they played in the botched scheduling of the recently completed Indian tour to South Africa. A shortened one-day international package and an abbreviated test series were forced on players and the public because of a spat between CSA’s chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

But this time CSA must be applauded for the television deal they struck this week with Dubai-based broadcaster and Asian Proteas cricket rights holders TAJ TV to beam the RAM Slam T20 Challenge.

The new deal will see the tournament go global with all the matches televised by SuperSport in South Africa also being shown live on Ten Sports in Asia and the Middle East.

The first of these broadcasts starts at Newlands tomorrow when all six franchises will battle it out in a bumper triple-header of fixtures.

It is no secret that India rules the roost when it comes to cricket and money in cricket. There is no other, stronger world cricketing body and it is also not unknown that players from all over the world want a piece of the Indian Premier League. Previous to the signing of the new deal, the only world stage our domestic cricketers were exposed to was the Champions League T20. To crack that event players had to hope their teams made it to the final of the domestic T20 competition.

Now, the players from all six franchises will have at least 19 televised domestic matches during which to showcase their skills to potential sponsors, Indian Premier League owners and talent scouts.

A number of Australian cricketers have benefited by signing deals with IPL franchises after their local tournament, the KFC Big Bash, went global a couple of seasons ago.

T20 cricket may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it does pay the bills and then some for cricketers who can hit the ball out the park and restrict batsmen with the ball in hand.

Our own Davy Jacobs and Johan Botha have made successful careers and a fair share of US dollars playing T20 cricket in places like India, Australia and the West Indies. CSA’s new deal will now ensure that more of our cricketers have an opportunity to market themselves properly.