Ken Borland

Sanzaar CEO Andy Marinos said on Saturday that cross-border rugby between South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina needed to continue, but whether he was just talking about the Rugby Championship or also SuperRugby surviving in something similar to its current format seems to still be classified information.

New Zealand Rugby seem to have already taken the decision to pull out of SuperRugby, while South Africa seem to be looking more and more into throwing in their lot with European competition. Australia are desperately trying to stay joined with their Kiwi neighbours, while Argentina are probably just hanging on to whatever scraps they can get.

But Marinos disagreed with the current narrative that Sanzaar’s partners are all trying to jump ship when he spoke in an SA Rugby Legends webinar on Saturday.

“We are busy working through our 2021 plans, but the whole return-to-play is not easy to navigate, you have Product A and then 24 hours later you have to change to Product B. The challenge is cross-border rugby because of all the government and medical controls and access to flights. We have to be realistic: The individual unions are responsible for keeping rugby alive and sustainable in each of their markets and then they can look at the feasibility of cross-border competition.

“But we are working through this as a joint venture. A round-robin structure next year is not looking that optimistic because flying won’t be that easy yet. But there is a strong acknowledgement that cross-border rugby needs to be in place in the future. Playing against players from other countries only makes our nations stronger internationally, that’s what has allowed the Sanzaar nations to be the dominant force in world rugby,” Marinos said.

The former Stormers and Wales centre denied that there was anything wrong with SuperRugby as a product and said the attacking nature of the competition has played a major role in the success of the four Sanzaar nations at the World Cup.

“The impact on the bottom line has been significant but it’s not because of poor delivery or a lack of quality or interest in the product. I would unashamedly say we have some of the best players in the world and we’ve seen that at the World Cup. The strength we’ve got is that the toughness of the competition and the global expansion of SuperRugby means our players are used to adapting to different conditions and being on the road for long periods.

“The Northern Hemisphere players don’t have that benefit, they have one-hour flights and they’re away for a weekend. The conditions we play under, plus the fact we put more air on the ball – there’s a very attacking mindset and the teams are as positive as possible – has played a significant role in the World Cup results. And with New Zealand and Australia playing again, we have seen an upturn in people coming back to the game, and SuperRugby can start regenerating itself,” Marinos said.

AB de Villiers got the newest cricket format off to a thoroughly entertaining start as he led the Eagles to victory in the inaugural 3TCricket match at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Saturday, but he also got tongues wagging yet again about a potential international comeback.

De Villiers blazed a typically imperious 61 off 24 balls to lead the Eagles to 160-4 in their 12 overs against the Kingfishers (113-5) and Kites (138-3). With Aiden Markram reminding everyone of his abilities with a dazzling 70 off 33 deliveries at the other end, the Eagles were always going to be tough to catch. De Villiers and Markram shared a stunning partnership of 100 off just 43 balls.

Markram set the tone up front as the Eagles posted 66-1 against the Kingfishers in their first six overs, scoring 47 not out off 23 balls. But they were under pressure early on as the economical Glenton Stuurman bowled Rassie van der Dussen for 8 and the score was only 23-1 after 2.5 overs when wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen dropped De Villiers on just one off wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi’s sixth delivery.

Shamsi’s day grew progressively worse as he ended up conceding 56 runs in his three overs.

The Eagles’ total was the best after the first half of the match, better than the 58-1 posted by the Kites against them and the 56-2 scored by the Kingfishers against a Kites attack led by Anrich Nortje. So they batted first in the second half and De Villiers immediately got the momentum going with successive sixes and 19 runs off spinner Jon-Jon Smuts’s first over.

De Villiers was eventually dismissed in the penultimate over, skying the excellent Nortje (3-27-2) to long-on, but the Eagles had already scored enough to secure first place.

The Eagles bowlers also did their bit in limiting their opposition with left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin (3-20-1) and Andile Phehlukwayo (3-24-2) being particularly outstanding. Fast bowler Junior Dala was tidy, conceding just 18 runs in his two overs.

The return to cricket in these days of Covid-19 got off to a heartwarming start as all the players, officials and commentators took a knee in support of Black Lives Matter before the first ball was bowled. All the players wore black armbands with Black Lives Matter on them and, after a fractious week in South African cricket, there was a pleasing air of unity and reconciliation, with Graeme Smith and Makhaya Ntini taking a knee next to each other with their right fists raised. They then commentated together with Smith saying he “could feel the emotion” and Ntini replying, “We stand together”.

The Kites finished second after Smuts provided a solid platform with his 48 off 26 deliveries and all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius added to their halfway total of 58-1 with a ferocious 17-ball 50 not out.

The Kingfishers were the first team to bat and battled to get going even though captain Reeza Hendricks (20) and Janneman Malan (31) shared the biggest opening partnership of the day – 51.

Batting for the second time, Faf du Plessis gave the Kingfishers some momentum with his 28 off 12 deliveries, before he was beaten in the flight and bowled by Fortuin.

Young all-rounder Gerald Coetzee, who bowled with good pace and skill, scored 24 not out off 15 balls, but he could not prevent the Kingfishers from finishing last. But their paceman Stuurman took two for 26 in his three overs and was the most impressive bowler of the day.

But it was the veteran De Villiers who showed once again that he remains South Africa’s most destructive batsman. With a T20 World Cup still hovering somewhere on the horizon, it was clear the Proteas could certainly use him in the shortest international format.

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.

Being unable to go out for dinner at a restaurant or a weekend braai with family and friends is what Reeza Hendricks says bugs him the most about Lockdown, but what’s also eating away at the 30-year-old Proteas batsman is the feeling that he has not yet been able to fulfil his potential at international level.

Hendricks has been one of the key figures in the dominance of the Central Gauteng Lions in recent seasons, but he has only played 21 ODIs, averaging 26.68, since making his debut in August 2018. He made his debut in T20 internationals in November 2014 though and has enjoyed more success in that format with four half-centuries in 23 innings and a strike-rate of 120. It’s a far cry from his domestic performances though, in which he averages 40.65, with five centuries in 30 innings, for the Lions in 50-over cricket and 36.50 in T20. His four-day average for the franchise is 36.72.

“My greatest ambition is to fulfil my talent to the best of my ability. I want to play consistently at the highest level in all three formats, winning trophies would be an added bonus. I feel I played fairly well domestically last season, contributing in all formats, but it was an emotional roller-coaster season personally, with a lot of ups and downs, but I guess sport is full of those.

“I was very disappointed in the international set-up, I only got a handful of opportunities and I couldn’t understand why. The disappointment was something I had to deal with and I learnt a lot about myself last season, how to overcome difficult situations and challenges, how to adapt. You have to keep being persistent to get through them and stay on a level because one day you’re a hero, the next you’re not,” Hendricks said.

The Kimberley product was the most unfortunate player not to go to the World Cup last year and he only featured in three ODIs against England and three T20s for the Proteas last season. He averaged 26 in the ODIs and had scores of 6 and 28 in T20s against India and 14 versus Australia.

Nevertheless, he is hungry to make next season really count. Hendricks still dreams of playing Test cricket and he has collaborated with Lions batting coach Justin Sammons in sharpening his technique.

“There’s always pressure, it comes from within. So I’m looking forward to next season, I’ve set goals and I just want to do well for whatever team I play for, contribute as well as I possibly can. I haven’t played Tests yet but I’ve been working hard on my red-ball cricket, I’ve felt I’ve done fairly well for the Lions in the last three years, I’ve made good progress.

“I would describe myself as being a traditional, textbook, classical batsman with a dash of flair, and I’ve developed a good relationship with Justin Sammons at the Lions. For anything technical or cricket-related, he’s someone I’ve trusted. I haven’t done too much technical work, it’s just touching up those areas where I’m lacking. Things like my movements towards the ball,” Hendricks said.