Ken Borland

July 18, 1944 was the day the patent for a combined pepper and salt shaker was issued in the United States and on the same day 76 years later, Cricket South Africa and 3TCricket will look to spice up the game by combining three teams in the same match playing for the Solidarity Cup.

Perhaps a more significant reason to remember July 18, 2020 though will be that that is the day live cricket action will return to South Africa after the 2019/20 season was halted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Having eventually received approval for a return to practice and play from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture last weekend, CSA on Wednesday announced that the groundbreaking 3TCricket match will now take place on July 18, Nelson Mandela International Day. The event was originally meant to take place on June 27, but government approval was delayed because the venue, SuperSport Park in Centurion, was in a Covid-19 hotspot and CSA’s plans needed to be approved by the Department of Health as well.

Now that the bureaucracy has been satisfied, 3TCricket will still be launched at SuperSport Park, starting at 11am, and the pay-TV channel will also broadcast the action live, with Kagiso Rabada’s Kingfishers looking to bombard Quinton de Kock’s Kites and the Eagles team led by AB de Villiers into submission.

“It’s very exciting to get live cricket, featuring our top players, back on our TV screens again. I can’t think of a more appropriate day on which to hold this game than Nelson Mandela Day when its prime objective is to raise funds for those who have been badly affected by the Corona Virus. It is still nearly three weeks away, so it also gives our players more time to prepare properly and to minimise the chance of injuries.

“I would like to thank the government and our own medical team once again for everything they have done to make a return to training and playing possible, and I would also like to add special thanks to the incredible sponsors involved in this event for their continued commitment towards the match and its beneficiary, the Hardship Fund,” Jacques Faul, CSA’s chief executive, said in a statement released on Wednesday.

The fact that CSA are allowed to stage this event in a hotspot shows just how finely tuned their precautionary measures to mitigate against the risk of infection are.

“First of all it will be an empty stadium, we’re looking at the minimum number of people being there for the event to happen and be broadcast, which is about 200. We will limit the number of team staff, otherwise it will just be the broadcast personnel, officials, players and stadium staff. There will also be thorough cleaning of the stadium beforehand.

“The players will get in three days before and be kept in a sanitized eco-system, at the hotel, when they travel and at the stadium. We will test the players before they get to Centurion and again five days afterwards in order to get rid of any false negatives. On average it takes five days from infection for someone to test positive. In the stadium, everyone will wear masks and doors will be kept open along with other safety measures,” CSA’s chief medical officer Dr Shuaib Manjra said.

A return to international action any time soon is looking increasingly unlikely for Dale Steyn after the 37-year-old fast bowler was omitted from a 45-man Cricket South Africa High Performance Squad that resumed training this week in small, monitored groups with their franchise coaches.

And, judging by the statement released on Tuesday by CSA to explain Steyn’s absence, it unfortunately looks as if South Africa’s leading wicket-taker is once again struggling with injury.

“Dale is not available to take part in the high performance training programme at this stage. Cricket South Africa’s medical team is monitoring his fitness and are in constant contact with his medical team in Cape Town. We will evaluate his progress over the next few months and go with the advice of the experts in regards to the next steps,” director of cricket Graeme Smith said in the statement.

The nature of his ailment is clouded in uncertainty at the moment, but apparently they are just niggles. Steyn missed last year’s World Cup due to long-standing shoulder problems and has played just eight Tests, nine ODIs and five T20 Internationals for the Proteas in the last three years.

In August, Steyn announced his retirement from Test cricket in order to prolong his white-ball career and was targeting the ICC World T20 Cup in Australia in October. But with a fresh Covid-19 outbreak happening in Victoria, it is now very doubtful that that tournament will take place this year.

There was better news though for several uncapped players as they received confirmation that they are in the Proteas’ plans for the future.

Experienced leg-spinner Shaun von Berg, batsmen Ed Moore, Raynard van Tonder, Sarel Erwee, Tony de Zorzi, Rudi Second, Keegan Petersen and Marques Ackerman, all-rounders Sisanda Magala and Gerald Coetzee, and pace bowlers Glenton Stuurman and Nandre Burger were all called up for training.

The High Performance Squad also offers the chance of an international reprieve for the likes of batsmen Pite van Biljon, Khaya Zondo and Theunis de Bruyn, fast bowlers Junior Dala and Daryn Dupavillon, all-rounder Wiaan Mulder and spinner Senuran Muthusamy.

Champion limited-overs leg-spinner Imran Tahir is training with the Dolphins in Durban, while Chris Morris, although he is still available for the 3TCricket event that will herald the return of cricket in the coming weeks, is not included in the Proteas’ plans.

High Performance Squad

Batsmen: Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, Ed Moore, Pieter Malan, Dean Elgar, Pite van Biljon, David Miller, Zubayr Hamza, Temba Bavuma, Raynard van Tonder, Sarel Erwee, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Reeza Hendricks, Khaya Zondo, Tony de Zorzi, Theunis de Bruyn, Rudi Second, Heinrich Klaasen, Kyle Verreynne, Keegan Petersen, Faf du Plessis, Marques Ackerman.

Spinners: Shaun von Berg, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde, Bjorn Fortuin, Senuran Muthusamy, Tabraiz Shamsi, Imran Tahir

All-rounders: Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Sisanda Magala, Gerald Coetzee, Jon-Jon Smuts, Wiaan Mulder,

Fast bowlers: Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Glenton Stuurman, Junior Dala, Kagiso Rabada, Daryn Dupavillon, Nandre Burger, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks.

Once Cricket South Africa had sent their plan for a return to play to the Department of Health as well, and also provided additional information on how they would handle any positive tests, getting approval has proved to be a breeze and 3TCricket is set to mark the first bit of on-field action in a few weeks.

Government announced at the weekend that cricket was one of seven sports to be granted approval to return to training and play. So the hiccup that caused the original launch of 3TCricket on June 27 to be postponed has only lasted a week and fans can expect the new format, which features three teams competing at the same time in a 36-over contest, to be unveiled soon.

CSA’s procedures to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 infection are apparently good enough to allow them to continue with plans to hold the 3TCricket opener at SuperSport Park, even though Centurion is in a hotspot for the pandemic. There had been speculation that the event could be moved to Potchefstroom, which is not a hotspot.

“Because Centurion is a hotspot, we had to run our plans through the Department of Health and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases as well as the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. The health authorities went through our plan and then requested additional information around testing and what would happen with positive tests.

“Once we provided them with that, they were subsequently happy and we added those details into our original plan. The event can still be held at Centurion, the government has no objection to that, and we can expect to have an announcement on the venue in the next few days,” Dr Shuaib Manjra, CSA’s chief medical officer, told The Citizen on Monday.

And, if cricket comprising 12 overs an innings does not blow your hair back, then there is a strong possibility that the Proteas will be returning to international action in August.

South Africa are scheduled to play two Tests and five T20 Internationals against the West Indies and they are proceeding with their plans as if that series will still go ahead. What still needs to be decided, however, is if it will take place as it was meant to in the Caribbean – on one island – or be held either in England, where the West Indians are currently preparing in a bio-bubble for a three-Test series, or here in South Africa.

The lucrative T20 series that CSA were hoping to host against India, also in August, now looks more likely to be postponed to early next year.

Much like the country as a whole after the pillaging of the State Capturers, the future of South African cricket is finely balanced at the moment with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic just placing more strain on a sport that was already under enormous financial pressure and stumbling blindly under the leadership of self-serving, pernicious administrators.

Cricket Capture is real and the malfeasants who have only been interested in their own power and enrichment are still very much alive and kicking in the halls of administration. They have no intention of losing their seat at the table that allows them to sate their voracious appetites.

It is unsurprising then, given the total lack of integrity they have previously shown, that they would resort to dirty tricks and shadowy tactics to discredit those who genuinely have the good of the game at heart. In the minds of these blights on the game, cricket is there to serve them, not the other way round.

The fraudulent document circulated this week claiming national coach Mark Boucher is a shareholder in 3TCricket is typical of a dirty tricks campaign and proves the existence of these nefarious forces. Acting CEO Jacques Faul is also coming under severe pressure and director of cricket Graeme Smith is for some reason being tarnished as “anti-transformation”. Lest we forget, as captain he probably made the biggest contribution ever to transforming the national team by coming up with the ProteaFire mantra that enabled the team to embrace diversity and develop a strong, unified culture.

It is absolutely laughable that Faul, Smith and Boucher are being accused of somehow pulling off a “coup” and putting Cricket South Africa back under White control. Faul was appointed – for the second time – by a majority Black board led by president Chris Nenzani; Smith was originally headhunted for his position by former CEO Thabang Moroe; and Boucher, who won five domestic trophies in three seasons, certainly has the support of the Black players in the national squad, many of whom have spoken about how helpful it has been to have coaches with huge international experience guiding the Proteas at this delicate stage of rebuilding.

It is clear though that the Cricket Capturers are planning another coup themselves. By getting rid of Faul, who has now been placed on a month-to-month contract, they would likely get rid of Smith as well. South Africa’s greatest captain only took up the position of Director of Cricket after Faul was appointed, having previously declined to work under Moroe.

The CSA Board, who hold ultimate power, is full of Cricket Capturers and those who have aided and abetted them, and they are working hard to maintain their grip on the game.

Apart from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and their ever-shrinking resources in terms of both finances and players, truly transforming the game into one that reaches all communities and provides equal opportunities for all talent is a seemingly never-ending challenge for CSA.

In the last week sports minister Nathi Mthethwa has castigated Nenzani for the all-White look to the senior management of the Proteas and Central Gauteng Lions and former Proteas spinner Aaron Phangiso has spoken out about the lack of transformation that has dogged his own career.

Phangiso of course went to the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and did not play a single game, one of the most disgusting examples of selectorial window-dressing in Proteas history. And that was under the watch of Nenzani, Haroon Lorgat as CEO and Russell Domingo as coach; none of them being White. Of course when it came to the semi-finals then the politicians saw fit to get involved and the infamous dropping of the in-form Kyle Abbott happened.

Mthethwa’s criticism of Nenzani happened at the Parliamentary Sports Portfolio Committee meeting with CSA top brass a week ago, and it was interesting in my research to come across CSA’s presentation to the same body back in 2015.

The World Cup semi-final storm was described as “one mischievous CWC selection issue” and a list of five Black African cricketers who were being assisted in a High Performance Squad was provided. Temba Bavuma is the only one of those five to have played regularly for the Proteas; Eddie Leie (2), Mangaliso Mosehle (7), Mthokozisi Shezi (1) and Khaya Zondo (5) have pulled on the Green and Gold just 15 times between them. They have all seen their franchise careers take a dip in the last five years as well.

Nenzani has been president of CSA since 2013 and I would love to know what transformation successes he can claim to have delivered in the longest ever tenure as president? Transformation has been under Black control for the last decade so why are Faul, Smith and Boucher suddenly being blamed for the lack of progress on that front?

The treatment Omphile Ramela had to endure from Moroe and the CSA Board as president of the players’ union and the complaints I hear from Black African staff that they were underpaid before Faul returned as CEO make me wonder just who exactly is anti-transformation?