Ken Borland

South African cricket is already battling to keep up with the richer nations on the international stage and a working paper put together by one of the franchise’s financial managers now shows that domestic cricket is facing significant cutbacks that will definitely affect the quality of play, despite the restructuring that Cricket South Africa are forging ahead with.

In the same press conference this week in which CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith spoke about the gap widening between the Haves (The Big Three of England, Australia and India) and the Have-Nots (where South Africa now find themselves), he also said the new domestic system approved by the Members Council is being rolled out and should be operational next season.

But in a working paper prepared for the board of one of the unions a financial manager has said “the revenue model is not sustainable” and “I cannot foresee a 12 or 14-team first-class affiliate structure being financially viable”.

The working paper says it costs around R12 million a year to run a franchise, excluding player contracts, and to run one of the bigger stadiums costs about R8 million a year. The franchises received R5 million a year from CSA, but as part of the Project 654 cutbacks, there is set to be an 8% decrease in this allowance, plus the grant from the Mzansi Super League is going to be cut from R5 million to just R500 000.

CSA will also give a grant of R435 500 for team operating expenses, but the budget for a franchise team this season shows that they spend R650 000 on clothing and R293 000 on balls alone, as well as vehicle costs of R227 000. The teams will receive a R15 000 hosting fee from CSA per match day, but the working paper points out that hosting a four-day game costs R23 500 per day and a one-day or T20 match costs about R168 000.

“Teams are going to have to find sponsorships of around R8 million to bridge the gap but having limited televised games means current sponsorship revenues are not sustainable. The revenue model is not sustainable and retrenchments will have to be considered and our matches will have to go to less expensive venues. We are also seeing a decline in suite sales and in-stadium advertising.

“But even with the restructured revenue model, hosting games at smaller venues, retrenchments and scaling down operational costs, I cannot foresee a 12- or 14-team first-class affiliate structure being financially viable,” the financial manager said.

The downsizing of the investment in each provincial side, which is inevitable with more teams taking part in the A Section, could well affect the quality of players produced for the Proteas by the domestic pipeline. Just as you’re not going to get a jumbo jet taking off from a small airport like the ones in Pietermaritzburg or Margate, so we cannot expect a lesser domestic structure, both in terms of competitiveness and resources, to launch the careers of world-beating stars.