Ken Borland

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.

Cricket South Africa chief executive Jacques Faul admitted on Monday that the organisation were “a bit naïve and ambitious” to think the sport would be let out of its Covid-19 Lockdown cell as early as this weekend, following the postponement of the Solidarity Cup.

The new format of the game, devised by 3TCricket, and a return to onfield action were launched amid much fanfare last week, with SuperSport Park in Centurion set to stage the contest involving three teams playing a 36-over match on Saturday, June 27.

But by the weekend CSA were forced to backtrack as government said they had not yet approved the plans, despite director of cricket Graeme Smith saying SuperSport Park had been “cleared” and “permits were in place” for the event to take place.

“We were a bit naïve and ambitious with the date because it did not leave us with a lot of time to work through all the protocols. Because SuperSport Park is in a hotspot, we now need Department of Health approval too. But we will take it on the chin and plan better. We really want to seek the correct procedure and it’s not something we can just push through,” Faul told The Citizen on Monday in a phone call.

CSA expect to be able to announce a new date for the Solidarity Cup in a few weeks.

As part of their efforts to convince the Department of Sports and Arts and Culture that they have measures in place to ensure a safe return to cricket, CSA have conducted more than 100 Covid-19 tests on their staff and those of the franchises, including players. Sport24 revealed on Monday that seven of those tests had returned positive results.

But those safety processes now have to be approved by two government departments so the wait to get back out on to the cricket field will last a little longer.

But if thousands of golfers are out and about on hundreds of courses around the country, then it surely won’t be long before cricket, in what is going to be a tightly-controlled environment, returns too.

Cricket South Africa president Chris Nenzani on Tuesday night denied that the organisation was afflicted by terrible chaos but admitted that the delays in holding former CEO Thabang Moroe’s disciplinary hearing were not good for the game, although unavoidable to ensure correct procedures were followed.

Moroe was suspended in December pending the outcome of a forensic investigation, and last week returned to the CSA offices, purportedly to ‘return to work’ as he believed his suspension expired after six months. This happened after the South African Cricketers’ Association, the players’ union, warned that the CSA Board lacked the will to finalise Moroe’s case.

CSA’s former Head of Sales and Sponsor Relations Clive Eksteen, who was suspended by Moroe in October and fired by CSA at the weekend, on Tuesday announced that he would be taking the organisation to the CCMA for unfair dismissal.

“I don’t think Cricket South Africa is in chaos although there are challenges we have to go through. We have to make sure we deal with certain in-house issues so they don’t impact on the game. We hoped by now that we would have been able to announce the outcome of the investigation into Mr Moroe, but unfortunately not and there is great disappointment over that at Board and Members Council level. It is not desirable that it take so long and we will take the necessary action to ensure CSA are protected.

“But I ask for understanding because we must complete a forensic investigation that meets the highest levels of governance and that is time-consuming. We have been promised by the investigators that the first part of the report will be ready by Friday and the Members Council will then decide the way forward. But set processes need to be followed so we don’t fall foul of the law. I can assure that the terms of reference of the investigation are as exhaustive as possible, but it is not common practice to make them public,” Nenzani said in a virtual press conference on Tuesday evening.

While Nenzani did his best during an hour-long conference to depict all CSA’s cups as being half-full, the organisation’s president since 2013 admitted that he should not have extended his record tenure by another term.

“One of the things I would have done differently in hindsight is that I would not have agreed to serving as president for an additional year. I regret that. But when you are an elected official you have an obligation to serve and so when the Members Council asks you to continue then you subject yourself to that. But the term of the president will come to an end in the AGM in September,” Nenzani said.

The Bisho schoolteacher refused to deny, however, that he has his eye on the position of International Cricket Council Chairman.

“As far as the position of chairman goes, the ICC has issued a moratorium on people expressing a desire for that post. They haven’t even opened the process of nominations yet, so it would be premature to make any declarations of being available or not being available,” Nenzani said.