Ken Borland

South Africa’s squad for the three ODIs against Pakistan from April 2-7 should be announced on Thursday and with several players heading off to their IPL destinations thereafter, a rather different-looking T20 squad will also be announced for those four matches that follow from April 10-16.

The last time the Proteas assembled a squad for ODI cricket was at the end of last year for the ill-fated abandoned series against England, and that squad will form the basis for Thursday’s selection. Kagiso Rabada should return to the 18-man list, however, while fitness concerns could see Dwaine Pretorius and Janneman Malan make way for Wiaan Mulder and Reeza Hendricks respectively.

Andile Phehlukwayo is another player who has not played much cricket lately, the all-rounder having not seen action in a month due to a injury he picked up after bowling four deliveries for the Dolphins in the T20 Challenge. Given his meagre returns at international level lately, the all-rounder’s place must be vulnerable.

The domestic form of Sisanda Magala, a seamer who bowls a heavy ball and is excellent at the death, as well as being a dangerous lower-order hitter, makes a compelling case for him to finally see international action, having been a member of Proteas squads before but without getting a cap.

The ODI squad will go into a bio-secure bubble around March 26, which means the Proteas stars are going to be pulled from the 4-Day Domestic Series final which looks set to be contested by the Dolphins and Titans.

Even with the departures of Lungi Ngidi, Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock and David Miller to the IPL ahead of the T20 series, the bulk of the squad that were competitive in Pakistan should be chosen, proving to the naysayers that South Africa is not thin on talent.

Temba Bavuma will bolster the side as he captains the Proteas for the first time in both series, while Rassie van der Dussen could also be included, adding experience to the batting. Magala and Migael Pretorius should also be called up after their outstanding domestic form.

Seamer Ottneil Baartman is another potential new cap.

Possible squads

ODI – Quinton de Kock, Janneman Malan/Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Jon-Jon Smuts, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Sisanda Magala, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Anrich Nortje, Wiaan Mulder, Kyle Verreynne, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks.

T20 – Temba Bavuma, Reeza Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Pite van Biljon, Rassie van der Dussen/Ryan Rickelton, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Dwaine Pretorius, Bjorn Fortuin, Sisanda Magala, Migael Pretorius, Nandre Burger, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lutho Sipamla, Okuhle Cele, Glenton Stuurman, Ottneil Baartman.

Titans batsmen Aiden Markram and Dayyaan Galiem came out after tea and sat in the dugout patiently waiting for the umpires to restart play on the second day of their Four-Day Franchise match against the Imperial Lions at the Wanderers on Wednesday, but it never happened as bad light prevented any further play.

With the morning being more suited to canoeing than cricket, play only got underway at 11.30am on Wednesday and then the rain returned at the tea break as only 200 minutes of action were possible on the second day.

The reason for Markram and Galiem’s eagerness to get back out on the park was because, at 169 for five, the Titans are just 24 runs short of ensuring they have enough bonus points to secure their place in the final next week, regardless of what happens in the Warriors match against the Dolphins.

Markram once again stood tall with the bat, scoring a wonderfully defiant 85 not out as Kagiso Rabada hollowed out the Titans innings with four for 32 in 18 overs.

Fellow fast bowler Lutho Sipamla claimed the other wicket to fall as he had Quinton de Kock caught in the slips, the left-hander having used his tree trunk bat to collect four fours in his 18.

The other notable action involving Proteas was when Rassie van der Dussen dropped Sibonelo Makhanya at first slip off Wiaan Mulder before he had scored; he went on to make 23. In the next over, with Markram on 59, Van der Dussen missed another chance off Rabada, which had the cellphones in the media centre abuzz with social media comments.

It got worse for the Lions when Reeza Hendricks dived across from second slip to catch Markram off Beuran Hendricks on 68, only for the left-arm paceman to have bowled a tight no-ball.

*At Newlands, the Knights must be heartily sick of the sight of opening batsman Pieter Malan, who has batted for 490 minutes and almost certainly dashed their final hopes.

Malan finished the second day on an epic 195 not out, steering the Cape Cobras to 382 for three, a lead of 201 runs.

Zubayr Hamza (86) and Kyle Verreynne (74*) helped plunder the Knights attack.

*St George’s Park is often one of the trickier destinations to go to, but the Dolphins have not only all but assured themselves of a place in the final but look almost certain to host it in Durban, as they dominated the second day against the Warriors.

Khaya Zondo led the way with a composed 111, a quality knock featuring 15 fours and three sixes to lift the Dolphins to 358, a first-innings lead of 234.

Zondo came to the crease on 107 for three with the dismissal of Senuran Muthusamy for 52, and had to stabilise matters after the visitors slipped to 194 for seven.

Keshav Maharaj once again shone with the bat, stroking 66 with 10 fours, as they added 132 for the eighth wicket.

The Warriors reached stumps on 88 without loss, with Ed Moore on 42* and Gihahn Cloete 39*.

Faf du Plessis has seen the Proteas crumple in more World Cups than is probably fair for one player to have to go through and yet the veteran former captain is still excited about the prospect of playing in two T20 World Cups in the next 20 months and even maybe the next 50-over tournament, scheduled for 2023.

It was revealed on Tuesday that Du Plessis will no longer be one of the 16 contracted Proteas for the coming year, but he told The Citizen on Wednesday that this was expected because he is only available for T20 cricket this year.

“I’m only available for T20 cricket this year as I mentioned in my Test retirement statement. I haven’t heard any communication from CSA regarding contracts, but I know they are looking into getting us involved in T20 cricket because there are two World Cups in that format in the next two years. Two T20 World Cups in a row is going to be fire [emoji],” Du Plessis said in a WhatsApp.

India will host the next T20 World Cup in October/November this year, while Australia, who were due to hold the event last year before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, will stage the tournament at the same time in 2022.

“There isn’t much ODI cricket this season and the ODI World Cup is only in 2023. Next season might be different in terms of games and also then the 2023 World Cup preparation, but for now with it being so far away, it’s better to build with players that can gain plenty games under their belts,” the 36-year-old added.

Du Plessis averages 57.87 in his 23 50-over World Cup appearances at the 2011, 2015 and 2019 tournaments, while he also played in the 2013 and 2017 Champions Trophy events. He also played in three T20 World Cups, in 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Du Plessis, who has been a stalwart of the Indian Premier League with 84 appearances, has previously indicated he is eager to play in more global T20 leagues around the world. Following the Proteas tour of Pakistan, he played three matches for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League before that tournament’s suspension due to a spate of Covid-19 cases.

Whatever holiday time he has had since then will be drawing rapidly to a close as the next edition of the IPL is due to start on April 9.

The Sands of Time are running out for Cricket South Africa’s Members Council so their last desperate attempts to block progress and the restructuring of the Board should be no surprise. The same self-serving administrators who put their own interests ahead of those of the game as a whole and allowed cricket to be captured were never going to vacate their seats on the gravy train without an almighty struggle.

That they have been operating in poor faith becomes clear when one considers that they themselves agreed to the establishment of the Interim Board on the basis that they would introduce a majority independent board chaired by an independent director, but now that the memorandum of incorporation amended to include these prerequisites has been presented, they have refused to accept it.

Their excuse for not ratifying the changes was that they were instructed to do so by their constituencies, but it seems this is a flimsy reason. Follow-up investigations with the provincial boards have shown that the ones who mandated a vote against the new MoI did so based on the incomplete picture they were presented by their provincial president sitting on the Members Council. And eager to have more of a shot at a place on the new Board.

The major sticking point appears to be the definition of an ‘independent’ director and those wanting to stymie progress have warned that this will lead to cricket being run by people who have no love nor knowledge of the game. Which is pure fear-mongering and much of it has been deliberate and not just the understandable caution when approaching a landmark change in how things are done in cricket administration.

There is an inevitability that the recalcitrant administrators will eventually lose, but some of them seem willing to hold out for as long as possible, never mind if it breaks the game in this country. As has been said, and proven, several times before, the Members Council cannot take on the Minister of Sport and hope to win.

Nathi Mthethwa holds all the aces and has all the legal weaponry he needs to force them to comply. Unfortunately, many of these will devastate the game – much like a couple of nuclear bombs ended World War II but also caused immense suffering and damage. The sports minister can withhold funding or remove the right to award national colours from CSA, effectively suspending the Proteas’ involvement in international cricket.

Let’s hope that matters do not have to go that far.

It causes immense frustration that the players – through a strongly-worded statement from SACA, sponsors, media and the general public have all expressed their great dismay at the attitude of the Members Council and yet the stubborn miscreants who have already done so much damage to the game continue to defy all calls for them to embrace change or move out.

Minister Mthethwa will justifiably be enraged by the lack of respect he has been shown and that is certainly the emotion I feel when confronted by the sheer, selfish obduracy of the parasites on the Members Council.

In their desperation, the Members Council have also, when it suits them, invoked Sascoc’s policy that members need to have a majority of non-independent directors on their board. Never mind that CSA ignore what goes on at Sascoc 95% of the time, that organisation is squelching through the mud of their own corporate governance crisis.

In 2017, then Minister of Sport Thulas Nxesi instituted the Zulman Commission to investigate the governance and management of Sascoc. It red-flagged conflicts of interest surrounding board members and recommended that they follow the benchmarks of international best practice and amend their board to have more independent directors.

Having more non-independent, hands-on directors in provincial structures might make sense, but a national board, considering their oversight function and the billions of rands they deal with, must be dominated by an independent contingent whose only concern is the overall good of the game.

The world has changed, top-level sport is no longer an amateur endeavour that can be run by the blazer brigade. It is big business and one needs heavyweights of the corporate world to steer the organisation.

Hopefully the light bulb will come on soon in the Members Council boardroom and they will ensure a more certain future for the game in this country.