There was no lack of honesty at any time last week when SA’s provincial coaches and CEOs met Cricket SA administrators to discuss the state of the game and what needs to be done to improve it.
The theme was one to which the majority of us can relate: “What can we do to improve the game — that doesn’t cost money.” SA cricket’s financial problems are a long way from being resolved.
More fixtures were accepted as essential, but they will cost money. Nonetheless, it was agreed that ways should be found to play more domestic first-class and limited overs matches, as well as SA games and even regional contests pitting the country’s best cricketers against each other in a “north v south” format.
But the recurring problem was lack of cash. The elephant in the room was the reality that 15 provincial teams are not sustainable. There was occasionally a sense of “dead man walking”, according to one attendee. Cricket SA does not have the money to keep bailing provinces out, and they made that clear.
The money raised by the inaugural SA20 was substantial but it was likened to “attempting to save an ailing corporation by changing the brand of paper-clips used by the stationery department”.
Cricket SA faces an annual operating shortfall of about R250m and the revenue from the SA20 was about R30m. Just as in every four-year cycle in the past three decades the revenue from an Indian tour is critical to keep the game afloat. Now more than ever. Cricket SA is hoping the BCCI will agree to play five T20Is when the Indian team arrives on these shores at the end of the year as well as the two Test matches they are committed to for the Test Championship. A three-match ODI series would be welcomed.
Each white-ball fixture against India is worth about $7m, or just over R120m. In effect, the revenue from a full India tour can, and has, kept the game alive for four years until their next visit. SA is not alone in this predicament with Sri Lanka, New Zealand and the West Indies all reliant on India for their survival while England and Australia need India tour revenue to keep living the comfortable lives to which they have become accustomed.
Meanwhile, the hardships at most of the provinces are not just cosmetic. Fraying paintwork and decaying infrastructure may not provide the ideal environment for elite sportsmen and women to achieve their best results but it gets worse.
At the start of one match in Division Two last season the visiting team had to find their own way to the ground because the bus, which had either not been ordered or paid for, depending on who you believe, did not arrive. But it gets worse.
Some provinces cannot afford balls for training sessions which, it must be said, are not cheap at about R1,500 each. Match balls can be changed after 80 overs yet some coaches admitted that the balls being used in their nets were at least 200 overs old which provides no practice whatsoever. One team even tried painting their old, red balls white before the start of the domestic limited overs competition to give the bowlers “the feel” of a white ball. It would be funny if it wasn’t so pitiful.
Despite all the problems, however, the over-riding impression from the delegates was of positivity and optimism. There was consensus that the coaching, administrative and selection structures of the provinces should, wherever possible, be aligned with each other and with the national teams. Some provinces still have bloated selection panels including members with no cricket experience. Others have only the head coach as sole selector.
Shukri Conrad and Rob Walter are both driven, passionate men with clear visions for the Test and limited overs teams and a well-planned road map for how to get there. They will both have responsibility for the selection of the national teams and there was, again, no objections to the notion that the provinces should place the Proteas’ ambitions above their own.
After years of administrative meddling which obstructed objectives on the field, there now appears a belated acceptance that the game’s collective energy should be focused on the top of the pyramid. The national men’s team, after all, still accounts for over 90% of Cricket SA’s revenue.
And everyone, all of us, needs to stay on good terms with Indian cricket.
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