Bowled over by cricket’s Plan B

OU CAN turn off the sun, but I’m still gonna shine!’ These are the famous words of American Grammy awardwinning singer and songwriter Jason Mraz. Within the swanky new corridors of Cricket South Africa’s head office, there are men and women praying that the same rule of thumb applies to domestic cricket tournaments.

After the almighty mess the Global T20 disintegrated into, CSA has gone back to its cupboard and hauled out an old dress to wear this summer. Known as the T20 Challenge, it doesn’t have all the accessories the GLT20 had. Nor will it be spruced up with an official sponsor.

But what it does have, most importantly, is a television partner in SuperSport to help reach the audience it desperately needs to be successful.

It’s grossly unfair to expect the T20 Challenge to rescue South Africa’s domestic cricket summer without all the resources afforded the GLT20. But that is what is expected. The T20 Challenge simply has to rekindle the passion and, more importantly, regain the trust of the cricket-loving public disillusioned by the postponement of the GLT20.

A major positive for the T20 Challenge is that the CSA has at least managed to ensure the Proteas remain in the country for the entire month to add some star value to the tournament.

It certainly is massive for domestic franchises to be able to call on big names such as Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Quinton de Kock.

It’s not only the franchise coaches who’re smiling; so are the marketing and promotion executives of the respective franchises who can look forward to putting “bums on seats” through these impressive drawcards.

All the action gets under way on Friday at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

Just like the way in which the Indian Premier League was kicked off in grand style by Brendon McCullum’s 158 that locked in a massive audience for the last decade, a similar feat from the likes of a De Villiers would go a long way towards restoring the belief.