Ken Borland

The SABC looks set to deny millions of South Africans live coverage of international cricket this summer despite Cricket South Africa (CSA) offering them broadcast rights at massively discounted rates.

By late yesterday, the SABC had still not accepted CSA’s latest proposal which involved them broadcasting South Africa’s home internationals this summer for a minimal fee, but with the state broadcaster paying over the money companies have already committed to be broadcast sponsors.

“It would be an absolute disaster if the South African cricket-loving public don’t get to see the number one Test team in the world in action. To grow the game, we need it on free-to-air television. We see it as an obligation to take cricket to all South Africans. It will be very, very sad if cricket is not on SABC,” CSA acting chief executive Jacques Faul told Business Day on Monday.

CSA have been in negotiation with the SABC for two months, through IMG, the global leaders in televised sports productions, but so far the broadcaster has just offered to screen highlights.

While CSA are desperate to ensure free-to-air broadcasts, there is no commercial benefit for them to do so. In fact, it costs them significant amounts of money as SuperSport would pay considerably more than they currently do if they had exclusive rights.

In previous years, the SABC have signed a broadcast agreement as late as on the morning of the first international match, but CSA insiders now believe even this won’t happen. This would be in contravention of the SABC’s mandate as stipulated by Icasa, the South African communications regulator, which compels the national broadcaster to show sporting events that are in the national interest.

The amount of money CSA’s regular sponsors have already paid for advertising time on the SABC would cover about half the rights fee the cricket governing body is seeking from the broadcaster. CSA would then supplement this amount by selling further advertising themselves. But even this proposal has so far failed to win over the SABC.

The home international season begins on Friday in Durban with the first of three T20 internationals against New Zealand.

South Africa limited-overs captain AB de Villiers on Wednesday expressed his support for a new-look T20 side to be chosen for the series against New Zealand later this month.

The Proteas squad for the three T20 internationals between December 21 and 26 will be announced in Cape Town on Thursday and De Villiers expects fresh faces after South Africa’s disappointing ICC World T20 exit before the semi-final stage.

“You’ve got to keep the T20 team fresh and exciting and it’s a great vehicle to get youngsters through into international cricket. We want to try fresh faces and there will definitely be a few new names because there are youngsters who have really performed at domestic level and we need to give them a chance,” De Villiers said at the Wanderers on Wednesday, where he attended the announcement of KFC as the title sponsors for both the New Zealand and Pakistan T20 series.

“These new players will bring different talents and skills, which is exciting.”

The general trend in international cricket has been for countries to use T20 specialists rather than relying on their Test players and De Villiers said it was clear South Africa would have to go further down that route.

“The Test players have played a big part in the T20 side, but that might change in future and you’ll probably see a team with a whole different look,” De Villiers said.

De Villiers, fresh off his thrilling hundred in the series-clinching Perth Test victory over Australia, returned to limited-overs action over the weekend with a century for the Titans, albeit in a losing cause against the Cape Cobras in their Momentum One-Day Cup eliminator.

“That was one of my better hundreds because it was against a really good attack. You can tell the standard of domestic cricket is very good from that match and I like to play domestic cricket when it’s like international cricket,” De Villiers said.

New Zealand have suffered two major blows with the loss of injured spinner Dan Vettori and the unavailability of former captain Ross Taylor, and De Villiers conceded South Africa should beat the Black Caps if they play to their full potential.

“New Zealand are always a dangerous side, they beat us in the World Cup and they’re really tough to beat when they get things right. But we know we’re the favourites and if we play good cricket, then we should win. We have a mental advantage over them because we beat them over there at the beginning of the year.

“They have had a lot of changes to their Test side, which is still trying to find its feet, but they’re definitely more dangerous in T20. They’re a very busy team, very good in the field,” De Villiers said.

But even if fresh faces such as Aaron Phangiso, Hardus Viljoen, Chris Morris, Roelof van der Merwe, Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Andrew Birch are included, South Africa’s T20 strategies are not going to undergo any dramatic change.

“We may have new players, but we’ll use the same strategy and follow the same game-plan,” De Villiers said.

Which means De Villiers will definitely retain the wicketkeeper’s gloves.

“Yes I’m glad I’m a wicketkeeper now, after 50 overs in the field against the Cobras I’m a bit stiff!” he joked.

Probable squad – Faf du Plessis, Richard Levi, AB de Villiers, Farhaan Behardien, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Justin Ontong, Robin Peterson, Roelof van der Merwe, Chris Morris, Hardus Viljoen, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn or Morne Morkel, Andrew Birch, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Opponents of the current Gauteng Cricket Board executive committee were left aghast at the AGM on Monday night when nobody from their ranks spoke up against the interim body continuing to run the game in the province.

No election of office-bearers was held as, after hearing the reports of the CEO, Cassim Docrat, and the chief financial officer, Arno Fourie, the club representatives at the AGM failed to bring up any matters for general discussion.

Those clubs looking to overturn the running of cricket by the interim, three-chambered board set up by the Langa Commission had been expected to call for an election at that time.

“We were shocked. We had all these meetings before the AGM to strategize, but when the time came, nobody said anything and nothing happened,” one club representative told Business Day.

The current board, made up of representatives from the black, Indian/coloured and white chambers, will now continue to run Gauteng cricket at least until the end of January. The three chambers will now consult their affiliated clubs and, if they want to change their nominees to the board, that can be done at the next board meeting at the end of next month.

Fourie presented a gloomy financial report that detailed a R7.392 million deficit for Gauteng cricket over the last financial year, while Lions cricket, the professional franchise, made a loss of R1.94 million.

But Fourie said they expected a profit in the next financial year due to Bidvest paying R5.8 million for the naming rights to the Wanderers, more international matches in 2012/13, a once-off Cricket South Africa grant of R3 million and the Highveld Lions’ lucrative participation in the Champions League T20 competition.

–

One-day internationals between South Africa and New Zealand always seem to have added spice, mostly because on the odd occasion the Black Caps have managed to win, they have often been the key games that have hurt the Proteas the most.

Of the 55 ODIs the two countries have played against each other, South Africa have won 33 and New Zealand 18, with four no results.

World Cup matches have been particularly happy occasions for the Kiwis, starting back in 1992 when they played an ODI against South Africa for the first time, at Eden Park in Auckland.

Kepler Wessels’ team, fresh out of isolation, were pummelled by seven wickets with 15-and-a-half overs to spare as New Zealand brought a fresh approach to limited-overs cricket.

South Africa did win their 1996 World Cup meeting in Faisalabad, thanks to their superb fielding and a fiery half-century from Hansie Cronje, and swept to victory at Edgbaston in 1999 after a brilliant all-round display by Jacques Kallis.

But since then, the Black Caps have notched three successive World Cup wins, with the trouble starting in Johannesburg in 2003 when Stephen Fleming’s great 134* powered New Zealand to victory and overshadowed Herschelle Gibbs’s wonderful 143, leaving the hosts on the brink of elimination and giving the visitors their first ODI win in South Africa.

New Zealand also took the spoils on the tropical island of Grenada, just off South America, in the 2007 World Cup, winning by five wickets to clinch a semi-final berth.

The 2011 World Cup defeat in Dhaka was perhaps the saddest of the lot because South Africa were riding high, their form steadily growing as they reached the quarterfinals, before Jacob Oram brutally chopped them down on a deteriorating pitch.

It felt like the apocalypse but, to their credit, South Africa rebounded by whitewashing the Kiwis 3-0 in New Zealand less than a year later in their most recent ODI meeting.

Despite all the World Cup pain they have inflicted, it is clear New Zealand will be up against it in the three ODIs between January 19 and 25. They have limped their way to just two victories in 18 previous matches against South Africa here, but perhaps it will suit the tourists that the games will be played in the smaller venues of Paarl, Kimberley and Potchefstroom.

With Ross Taylor, his captaincy having been called into question, on sabbatical, New Zealand will rely heavily on new skipper Brendon McCullum to lead the batting, while there will also be a heavy load on the shoulders of 34-year-old all-rounder Oram.

The attack is also missing key experience with spinner Dan Vettori out injured, but there is potential aplenty in young seamers Tim Southee and Trent Boult, while veteran Kyle Mills usually enjoys conditions in South Africa.

The ODI series kicks off on Saturday a.m., January 19 in Paarl and South Africa will no doubt be eager to repay one of their arch-enemies for all that World Cup misery.

But it is clear the Proteas ODI squad is still a work in progress, with coach Gary Kirsten having an eye firmly on the next World Cup final at the end of March 2015, probably in either Sydney or Melbourne.

At the moment, there are places open in the team, with perhaps a third of the squad still not settled, but there is no reason to fear that. Kirsten and the selectors should have an amnesty from criticism as they sift through the potential talent and they will no doubt have plans to introduce some new faces in this series.

And, with Paarl, Kimberley and Potchefstroom renowned for being three of the driest places in the country, rain is unlikely to interfere with those plans!