Bavuma deserves to hang onto his Test spot – Domingo

AS AN exercise in getting miles in the legs and oiling the cogs it was mission accomplished. Dale Steyn got through his comeback match in white clothing unscathed, which was more important than him going wicketless.

Equally, Temba Bavuma spent a shade over two hours at the crease and stroked a delightful 70 off just 77 balls. In the context of the Proteas starting a Test match starting in a few days on Boxing Day against Zimbabwe in Port Elizabeth, everything went according to plan at Boland Park.

Bavuma certainly played with the sort of freedom that had eluded him for much of the recent RamSlam T20 Challenge and would have been pleased with the way he stroked the pink ball, especially under the lights on Wednesday evening when everyone else seemed to struggle with the change of conditions under the lights when the ball does begin to swing and seam a bit more.

The fact that he didn’t convert yet another half-century – an issue that seems to plague him in the Test side – did not bother his former national team coach Russell Domingo, who is guiding the SA Invitational XI side here, though.

“Temba played really well. He spent time at the crease,” Domingo said at Boland Park yes- For the time being at least no further heads will roll from within Cricket South Africa’s administration following the failure to host the T20 Global League, which cost the organisation in the region of R340-million.

Cricket SA’s Board of Directors met this week to discuss two reports it had commissioned following that postponement of the T20GL. According to CSA’s president, Chris Nenzani, “all monies have been adequately accounted for”, and no irregularities or financial mismanagement occured.

“These reconciliations will now be examined by our external auditors, Nkonki, as part of their normal audit procedures,” Nenzani said in a statement.

Cricket SA announced the postponement of the T20 Global League on October 10, following eight months of hype that included an expensive launch event held terday. “He is fully aware that he needs to get those starts and convert it into big scores. He’ll get through it. He is clever enough and mature enough to figure it out.

“He is still young in his Test career, something like 20 Tests. I was watching a Hashim (Amla) interview the other day and he was speaking about the ups and downs in his first 20 Tests. Temba has actually had a quite a decent start to his Test career. I am not in London in July and the player auction at a swish Cape Town hotel in August. In between there were various events hosted to introduce the eight franchises.

Thusfar, the only head to roll is that of former CEO Haroon Lorgat, very much the face of the T20GL, who “parted ways” with CSA at the end of September.

The Board also noted that the investigations highlighted “pervasive governance lapses” related to the T20GL, which are understood to concern procurement processes and recruitment. No mention was made in the statement about the “Evaluation Committee” the Board appointed which Lorgat reported to and was supposed to be an oversight mechanism. That ‘committee” was made up of the current acting CEO Thabang Moroe, and two independent directors, Iqbal Khan and Louis von Zeuner.

Nenzani went on to add that the Board accepted responsibility for the losses concerned.”

The imminent return of AB de Villiers to the Test side after injury and a self-induced sabbatical has created speculation around which batsman in the Proteas line-up would have to be consigned to drinks duty to accommodate the former national captain. Domingo certainly thinks Bavuma has done enough over the past two years to warrant his selection regardless of De Villiers’ much-anticipated “and the general disappointment of the tournament being postponed.”

“Many learnings have emanated from the findings of the internal investigation,” he said. “The CSA control environment is what stood us in good stead to date and the same standards should be applied even when we decide to embark on a ring-fenced initiative as the T20GL. We will fix these aspects with a great sense of urgency.”

Cricket SA said it remained on a solid financial footing despite the massive losses incurred by the failure to host the tournament, and included along with today’s statement a link to the Annual Report, which included the financial statement for the last financial year. Cricket SA made a loss of R159-million.

That report, released at the organisation’s Annual general meeting in September, ironically refers to“how the T20 Global League is driving the business comeback.

“I was chatting to him (Bavuma) two days ago about some of the most memorable Test wins over the past 18 months and how he has rescued the South African team,” Domingo said.

“I think of him and Quinton de Kock’s partnership in Wellington, his partnership with Quinny in Perth when we were under the pump. Their partnership in Hobart when we were under pressure. Those have been series-win- of cricket”. That section refers to all the benefits that would exist for Cricket SA and by extension the country once the T20GL was up and running. It also mentions the local Premier Soccer League’s 2011 broadcast deal with SuperSport, which was worth R2-billion and the broadcast deal signed for the Indian Premier League, making mention of the $1.08-billion the IPL rights went for in 2008. Earlier this year a new deal was signed for the IPL, worth $2.55-billion.

It was the failure on CSA’s part to secure a broadcast deal that ultimately led to the postponement of the T20GL.

Two weeks ago, CSA reached an agreement to pay 60 percent of the salaries due to local players drafted in the T20GL in three installments.

Meanwhile the Board did not discuss when it would start the process to appoint a permanent CEO. Moroe has been acting in that role since the start of October. ning partnerships.

“He seems to thrive when the team is under pressure, and he needs to find the balance of performing when the pressure it not quite as intense as it when the team is 70/5, and cashing when the side has set the game up nicely for him. That’s the improvement he has to make.”

After spending most his Test career at No 6, Domingo trialed Bavuma in the coveted No 4 spot during the England series after JP Duminy was dropped midway through. Duminy has since retired from Test cricket and Bavuma would have hoped to cement his position but with De Villiers returning, Domingo does concede the Cobras man might have to wait a little longer now for that chance.

“Obviously with De Villiers coming back in he has to bat No 5 or six. If they do pick De Villiers, with his proven record and ability, he is the guy that needs to