Ken Borland

They may not have Quinton de Kock nor Faf du Plessis, but the Titans are not in any way uncomfortable with their absence as they start their CSA T20 Challenge campaign against the Knights at Kingsmead on Friday morning, thanks to the riches in playing depth they have and their unavailability being communicated well in advance.

Even without De Kock, who is on a “mental health break”, and Du Plessis, heading to the Pakistan Super League to join Dale Steyn at the Quetta Gladiators, the Titans have six White Proteas to squeeze into the five slots allowed for them and it seems champion off-spinner Simon Harmer will not be playing in the opening game on Friday, thus allowing batsman Theunis de Bruyn to get a shot. The other White Proteas in the squad are captain Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar and Chris Morris, who on Thursday became the most expensive overseas player ever in the IPL.

“We’re probably a bit overstocked to be honest and Quinny and Faf not being available was communicated to us early on. It wouldn’t make sense to force them to play. Quinny was very open and honest with us a while ago that he would need a break after the Pakistan tour and Faf put in his request to skip the competition a while ago too. It doesn’t make sense to force people to play when they’re not in a good space, they’re unlikely to perform well,” Titans CEO Jacques Faul told The Citizen on Thursday.

Pace bowler Kyle Abbott is another conspicuous absentee from the Titans squad having only played the one Momentum One-Day Cup match for them since his high-profile signing. But Faul confirmed they “still have long-term plans” for Abbott, who has played 11 Tests, 28 ODIs and 21 T20s for the Proteas.

The Knights only have three Proteas in their squad – veteran Farhaan Behardien, Pite van Biljon and new international Jacques Snyman, but it is surely only a matter of time before Raynard van Tonder and Migael Pretorus earn their first caps and the Central Franchise are a well-balanced, powerful outfit.

Eduard Coetzee, the Sharks CEO, might rate Siya Kolisi as the best captain in world rugby, but he confirmed on Wednesday that Lukhanyo Am will retain the captaincy of the franchise team.

Am has been integral to the rise of the Sharks over the last year and is the sort of follow-my-example captain that is much-loved by the KwaZulu-Natal outfit and their fans, following in the footsteps of inspirational skippers like Gary Teichmann, John Smit, Wahl Baartman and Craig Jamieson, who were also men of few words.

While there is no doubting the pedigree and qualities of Kolisi, who led the Springboks to World Cup glory in 2019, the decision is a wise one by the Sharks because it avoids adding another complication to the life of the 29-year-old who seems utterly focused on regaining his best form following a miserable 2020 ruined by injury, Covid and the problems within Westen Province rugby.

“As a leader, Siya chooses himself, we know he’s the best leader in world rugby and he led the country to the World Cup. So yes, it would be easy to make him captain. But we don’t want to do that at the moment, we want to make an environment here that he can thrive in and put the least amount of pressure on him as necessary. And Lukhanyo has done an unbelievable job as captain so that makes the decision much easier.

“We love to treat our players well because that’s the way you get results. To add more pressure by making Siya captain is not going to help him. They get on well, by the way, and Lukhanyo has been in my ear as well about when Siya is coming here. Leaders earn the right to lead, they appoint themselves and both Siya and Lukhanyo have the qualities to be very successful captains,” Coetzee said at Kings Park on Wednesday when Kolisi was officially unveiled as a Sharks player.

Kolisi pointed to his ball-carrying ability as being an area where he can add to the growth of a Sharks game that he said he already very much admires, having been on the receiving end of it when they beat Western Province at Newlands in the Currie Cup semi-finals.

“The Sharks team is really strong, they have a good kicking game, they’re disciplined and they have the boot of Curwin Bosch. But I love their style when they do move the ball around, they have a strong attacking game. I am an openside flank but I don’t really fetch, although I do want to contribute to that aspect of the game.

“But with ball-in-hand, along with the other strong carriers, that’s where I hope I can add to the team. And I’m willing to do the hard work, clearing the rucks and that, too; I’m not scared to do the graft that is not seen,” Kolisi said.

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.

The attraction with Andile Phehlukwayo as an all-rounder for the Proteas would have been rapidly wearing thin after Pakistan snatched victory at the death in the third T20 and claimed a 2-1 series win in Lahore on Sunday.

The match was heading for a thrilling conclusion as Pakistan, chasing 165 for victory, were 137 for seven after 17 overs.

Dwaine Pretorius conceded 12 runs in the 18^th over, four of them via an unfortunate edged boundary, but the experienced Phehlukwayo would have fancied his chances of still forcing the game to the wire as he stepped up to bowl the penultimate over with 16 runs to play with.

Unfortunately it all went horribly wrong as the seamer started with a full toss hit for six and called a no-ball, bowled a wide two balls later, conceded a four and then delivered another full toss which was heaved for six by Hasan Ali (20* off 7 balls), as Pakistan dashed to victory by four wickets with eight balls to spare.

Phehlukwayo had also been caught on the boundary for a duck, as part of a dreadful collapse that saw South Africa crash to 65 for seven and he was also guilty of a few misfields that cost nine runs.

There was much to be pleased about for the Proteas in the field, however, as they fought back well spearheaded by the superb spin bowling of Tabraiz Shamsi, who took four for 25, after Pakistan seemed to be cruising to victory as Mohammad Rizwan (42 off 30) and Babar Azam (44 off 30) took them to 112 for three after 14 overs.

South Africa’s batting against spin is still obviously a major issue though as, after being sent into bat, they were ripped apart by deutant leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood, who took three for 23 in his first three overs.

Left-arm orthodox Mohammad Nawaz also took a couple of wickets in the powerplay as the Proteas made the spinners look unplayable.

Fortunately David Miller survived the chaos and showed why he is still one of the best finishers South Africa have, scoring an exceptional 85 not out off 45 balls to get them to a competitive 164 for eight.

Bjorn Fortuin (10*) and Lutho Sipamla (8*) batted sensibly to enable Miller to add 99 runs for the last two wickets.