Ken Borland

T20 franchise cricket has changed the life of more than one cricketer and the IPL, who held their mega auction at the start of the week, has done that more than most. But Betway SA20 Commissioner Graeme Smith wants South Africa’s franchise T20 tournament to do that and revitalise the game in the country he captained with such distinction.

The Indian Premier League is obviously the benchmark all other leagues aspire to, and their auction saw record prices being paid for the next tournament being held from March 14 next year, with the 10 franchises spending more than £60 million overall.

Smith wants the SA20 to continue growing in stature such that it is considered to be part of the top group of T20 tournaments, and the fact that so many South Africans and overseas players who feature in the SA20 are being picked up by the IPL as well, bodes well for the stature of the January/February competition.

Proteas stars Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen (the most expensive overseas player), Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee, David Miller, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis and Lungi Ngidi have all been signed up by the IPL, as well as lesser-known players like Lizaad Williams, Kwena Maphaka, Matthew Breetzke, Donovan Ferreira, Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs, who have shone in the SA20 and thereby attracted the attention of the Indian franchise owners who all have teams in the IPL too.

Amongst the highest-paid overseas stars who were bought at the IPL auction are players like Josh Buttler, Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, Noor Ahmad and Rashid Khan, who have all featured regularly in the SA20.

“From an SA20 perspective, it’s lovely to see the platform provided by our tournament to these players and there are a significant number of South African players in the top money-earners list,” Smith told sportsboom.com in an exclusive interview at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Monday.

“Last year we produced the most players going to the IPL of all the overseas countries, and that shows the growth of our franchise cricket. And that includes a few youngsters, those are the good stories of people’s lives being changed, like Kwena Maphaka going to Rajasthan Royals for £142 000.

“So the exposure from the SA20 is very important but we also hope that the tournament keeps the Proteas strong. They haven’t had a great period in T20 cricket since making the World Cup final, but the IPL auction and the SA20 tournament show that there is still some incredible talent there.

“There is a lot of franchise cricket played around the world and we want to elevate SA20 so that it is one of the No.1 picks. There is like a Tier One of these T20 franchise tournaments and we certainly want to be up there. I think we are establishing ourselves as one of the Tier One events.

“The feedback from the overseas players has been incredible. They love coming to South Africa because of the crowds, they say the tournament is well-run and, most importantly, they say it provides extremely competitive cricket. Two years into the event, there is much higher confidence that we can pull it off and we hope it just keeps developing,” Smith said.

Smith has high hopes that the SA20 will also keep developing South African domestic talent into world-beating international stars. Never mind being able to get them on the phone, the likes of Tristan Luus, an SA U19 all-rounder, can sit in the Mumbai Indians changeroom and chat face-to-face with Ben Stokes about the game. Likewise, Breetzke, who has just set off on his international career, will be chewing the ear off of fellow top-order batsman Kane Williamson in the Durban Super Giants locker-room.

“With our rookie draft and our introduction of the SA20 Schools competition, we’re going to expose a lot of youngsters. Plus the franchises are unbelievable when it comes to their attention to their pipeline and talent. They bring great expertise in terms of the support staff.

“Maybe before SA20, our players were not developing in the right way, they were becoming fully professional late in the day and you were still trying to educate them at national team level. But playing against the best shows you where you need to improve and what it takes to play at that level. They can sit and chat with a Ben Stokes or a Kane Williamson, and you’ll have international physios telling them that these are the levels they need to reach physically,” Smith said.

The bottom line is always commercial, however, and the SA20 continues to be the second-biggest money-spinner for CSA after the Proteas men. That has enabled things like the SA20 Schools competition, an annual camp for U19 girls and an umpire exchange with The Hundred in England, to be introduced.

There was more good news for the SA20 on the commercial front on Monday as they announced a new partnership with DP World, the global smart logistics and supply chain company.

The Gauteng Lions played like the team that has had more exposure to the higher level of the United Rugby Championship as they swept aside a young, inexperienced Natal Sharks XV 46-5 in their Currie Cup opener at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Lions were captained by stalwart hooker Jaco Visagie, a man with plenty of SuperRugby and URC experience, while players like Morgan Naude, Darrien Landsberg, Jarod Cairns, Nico Steyn, Rynhardt Jonker and Gianni Lombard are also regular participants in the European franchise tournament.

The Sharks, in contrast, had captain Nick Hatton and scrumhalf Bradley Davids from last year’s Currie Cup, and centre Litelihle Bester is highly-rated as a former SA U20 star and has even played in the Challenge Cup. But the rest of the squad they brought to Johannesburg was really made up of young talents they are looking to develop further.

The youngsters started well, won the early kicking game and dominated the first seven minutes in terms of territory. But they just could not crack open a committed, physical Lions defence.

And then a poor kick by flyhalf Jean Smith, with father Franco watching from the stands, went over the dead ball line and gave the Lions their first entry into Sharks territory with a scrum. The opening try came after 10 minutes, with three more coming in the first half, the Lions going into the break 24-0 to the good.

The home side scored three more tries in the second half and coach Mziwakhe Nkosi said he was satisfied by the level of performance, whatever the large difference on the scoreboard.

“We were quite apprehensive going into this game because we didn’t have a warm-up match, but it was a good start and we will certainly take it. It was good to get the cobwebs out and get the result we did.

“We came in blind and in the first half, the ball-in-play time was so low, so there wasn’t really any flow due to all the stoppages. With guys like Angelo Davids and Rabs Maxwane on the edges, it’s best to get the ball to them sooner rather than later, and it was good to see us get on to it in terms of how we want to play.

“We were probably the more settled side, but not that much more experienced. These okes have not had much game time in the URC,” Nkosi said.

Visagie was the first to use the space out wide to good effect, finding left wing Maxwane, who then sent flank Cairns charging down the touchline to score the opening try.

Right wing Davids then sliced through a number of defenders after some scrappy play off a lineout, scrumhalf Steyn then sending a crosskick heavenwards and Maxwane leaping high to claim the ball and go over for his first try, in the 22nd minute.

Real calamity struck the Sharks in the 34^th minute, however, when wing Phiko Sobahle was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on that prevented a certain try by Davids after a blindside move by fullback Lombard. The penalty try took the Lions 17-0 clear, and they added two more tries either side of halftime as Smith was also yellow-carded for the same offence.

Maxwane was put in space again for his second try in the 39^th minute and he fed Davids for a try on Lions debut in the 51st minute. Davids had provided the initial impetus for the superb move with his counter off a Sharks kick, while impressive centre Jonker did great work down the right touchline and then cutting infield.

With flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela kicking a penalty and the conversion, the Lions were 34-0 up with half-an-hour to play.

But the Sharks were the next to score, a breakdown in the chain of communication at the back allowing Sobahle to dot down a kick through by Bester, with Lombard getting in the way of replacement flyhalf Kade Wolhuter.

Davids was running free again in the 71st minute and set up Jonker for a try, while replacement prop SJ Kotze burst through off a lineout and sent replacement scrumhalf Layton Horn over for the final try.

Sharks XV coach JP Pietersen acknowledged that he is still trying to bring this new young group together as they look to defend the Currie Cup title they won in thrilling fashion at Ellis Park last year.

“It was our first game together as a group and the average age of the team is 23. So it was a challenge for these young men. They did alright and we showed some fight, especially in defending the Lions’ mauls. But we stayed in the pressure cycle and a team like the Lions will always capitalise.

“We’ll have better cohesion next week and we’re going to be working hard together from Monday. The Sharks angle in the Currie Cup is to develop youngsters for the URC, that’s the trend in the competition.

“The defence wasn’t there today, but that does not mean it is an issue. Defence is about cohesion and trust. This Lions group have been together for three+ years and they have that synergy and understand their game better,” Pietersen said.The Gauteng Lions played like the team that has had more exposure to the higher level of the United Rugby Championship as they swept aside a young, inexperienced Natal Sharks XV 46-5 in their Currie Cup opener at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Lions were captained by stalwart hooker Jaco Visagie, a man with plenty of SuperRugby and URC experience, while players like Morgan Naude, Darrien Landsberg, Jarod Cairns, Nico Steyn, Rynhardt Jonker and Gianni Lombard are also regular participants in the European franchise tournament.

The Sharks, in contrast, had captain Nick Hatton and scrumhalf Bradley Davids from last year’s Currie Cup, and centre Litelihle Bester is highly-rated as a former SA U20 star and has even played in the Challenge Cup. But the rest of the squad they brought to Johannesburg was really made up of young talents they are looking to develop further.

The youngsters started well, won the early kicking game and dominated the first seven minutes in terms of territory. But they just could not crack open a committed, physical Lions defence.

And then a poor kick by flyhalf Jean Smith, with father Franco watching from the stands, went over the dead ball line and gave the Lions their first entry into Sharks territory with a scrum. The opening try came after 10 minutes, with three more coming in the first half, the Lions going into the break 24-0 to the good.

The home side scored three more tries in the second half and coach Mziwakhe Nkosi said he was satisfied by the level of performance, whatever the large difference on the scoreboard.

“We were quite apprehensive going into this game because we didn’t have a warm-up match, but it was a good start and we will certainly take it. It was good to get the cobwebs out and get the result we did.

“We came in blind and in the first half, the ball-in-play time was so low, so there wasn’t really any flow due to all the stoppages. With guys like Angelo Davids and Rabs Maxwane on the edges, it’s best to get the ball to them sooner rather than later, and it was good to see us get on to it in terms of how we want to play.

“We were probably the more settled side, but not that much more experienced. These okes have not had much game time in the URC,” Nkosi said.

Visagie was the first to use the space out wide to good effect, finding left wing Maxwane, who then sent flank Cairns charging down the touchline to score the opening try.

Right wing Davids then sliced through a number of defenders after some scrappy play off a lineout, scrumhalf Steyn then sending a crosskick heavenwards and Maxwane leaping high to claim the ball and go over for his first try, in the 22nd minute.

Real calamity struck the Sharks in the 34^th minute, however, when wing Phiko Sobahle was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on that prevented a certain try by Davids after a blindside move by fullback Lombard. The penalty try took the Lions 17-0 clear, and they added two more tries either side of halftime as Smith was also yellow-carded for the same offence.

Maxwane was put in space again for his second try in the 39^th minute and he fed Davids for a try on Lions debut in the 51st minute. Davids had provided the initial impetus for the superb move with his counter off a Sharks kick, while impressive centre Jonker did great work down the right touchline and then cutting infield.

With flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela kicking a penalty and the conversion, the Lions were 34-0 up with half-an-hour to play.

But the Sharks were the next to score, a breakdown in the chain of communication at the back allowing Sobahle to dot down a kick through by Bester, with Lombard getting in the way of replacement flyhalf Kade Wolhuter.

Davids was running free again in the 71st minute and set up Jonker for a try, while replacement prop SJ Kotze burst through off a lineout and sent replacement scrumhalf Layton Horn over for the final try.

Sharks XV coach JP Pietersen acknowledged that he is still trying to bring this new young group together as they look to defend the Currie Cup title they won in thrilling fashion at Ellis Park last year.

“It was our first game together as a group and the average age of the team is 23. So it was a challenge for these young men. They did alright and we showed some fight, especially in defending the Lions’ mauls. But we stayed in the pressure cycle and a team like the Lions will always capitalise.

“We’ll have better cohesion next week and we’re going to be working hard together from Monday. The Sharks angle in the Currie Cup is to develop youngsters for the URC, that’s the trend in the competition.

“The defence wasn’t there today, but that does not mean it is an issue. Defence is about cohesion and trust. This Lions group have been together for three+ years and they have that synergy and understand their game better,” Pietersen said.

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Caster Semenya has called for the International Olympic Committee to show more consistency and have a uniform policy for competitors who are under gender scrutiny.

The 33-year-old Semenya, who won the 800m in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, is not competing in the Paris Olympics because World Athletics insists she takes medicines to lower her testosterone levels, a consequence of her differences of sex development (DSD) condition.

Semenya refuses to undergo the treatments, which are mandatory in order to compete, and has been locked in legal battles with World Athletics since 2018.

The Paris Olympics have been rocked over a gender controversy in boxing, with two competitors, Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, having their eligibility for the women’s tournament being questioned. Both are guaranteed a medal, having advanced to the semi-finals in their respective weight divisions.

In Semenya’s homeland of South Africa, social media has been awash with posts questioning why the boxers are allowed to compete, especially in a combat sport, while Semenya is effectively banned. The IOC has backed the two boxers, casting doubts on the veracity of the International Boxing Association’s gender eligibility tests that found they had XY chromosomes.

The IBA is no longer recognised by the IOC, who are running the boxing events in Paris themselves.

Semenya herself has sympathy for Khelif’s plight, the 25-year-old welterweight having borne the brunt of the storm.

“Imane is a great boxer and people always criticise when someone is doing well, people always talk then. When she wasn’t winning, then everyone was quiet.

“But the IOC’s policy and constitution should not contradict each other. Sport is for all people and the constitution says no to discrimination. But the minute they allowed women to be disgraced, it confuses us.

“If sport is for all, then why does the big governing body allow this sort of thing to happen? They should stand their ground and lead by example. It’s about quality leadership that safeguards, protects and respects women,” Semenya told sportsboom.com in an exclusive interview in Pretoria.

“What happened at the Olympics now is not what happened in my space. Each organisation has its own policy, boxing have their own and athletics has its own.

“It’s not about what I want, but about principles of life. My views are not about me because I have ventured more into coaching now, I stopped running seriously in 2022. I have kids now and I want to spend more time at home.”

World Athletics, then known as the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), initially restricted their new rules on testosterone levels to just three track events – the 400m, 800m and 1500m.

Semenya initially switched to the 200m and 5000m races, but was never a real contender at those distances, failing to make the Olympic qualifying standards.

Last weekend she ran her first competitive race in more than a year, in the Tshwane (Pretoria) event of the Spar Women’s Grand Prix 10km Series, finishing 10^th in 37:13.

A beaming, jovial Semenya clearly enjoyed the experience.

“It was real nice and I did it for all the women, to make sure I inspire and show them that anything is possible. It was to celebrate women in sport and all women.

“I like to challenge myself, I was feeling outside my comfort zone and I thought I would end up walking, but I just kept on going. I’m very happy about my run and finishing in the top-10. Maybe when I’m 34 I must run the Comrades Marathon [an annual 88km ultramarathon held in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa],” Semenya laughed.

Johannesburg, 5 April 2024 – The DP World Lions made more inroads into the Warriors’ lead in the CSA T20 Challenge on Friday night when they won a rain-shortened match against the HollywoodBets Dolphins by seven wickets with four balls to spare in Johannesburg.

With the Warriors losing to the Titans at St George’s Park, the second-placed DP World Lions are now just five points behind on the log, although the Eastern Province team do have a game in hand.

Set 99 to win off nine overs, our #PrideOfJozi’s victory was even more comfortable than the final scoreline suggests after Ryan Rickelton had plundered another half-century, lashing 53 not out off 23 balls to control the run-chase.

He was starved of strike in the last couple of overs, as the more sedate run-a-ball approach of Rassie van der Dussen (14 off 13), Evan Jones (5 off 4) and Temba Bavuma (2* off 1 ball) steered the home side to victory at the DP World Wanderers Stadium.

Heavy rain delayed the start of play for half-an-hour, with the Lions then winning the toss and making the sensible decision to bowl first and therefore have more control over the chase in a shortened game. But then there was more rain and play eventually only started at 7.45pm, 105 minutes later than originally scheduled, with the match reduced to nine overs a side.

Both teams made blazing starts, Bryce Parsons blasting 36 off 13 balls opening the batting for the Dolphins, but Rickelton had more staying power and he batted through the innings to cap a wonderful week for our Pride in which they have notched three consecutive wins.

Paceman Codi Yusuf trapped Parsons lbw with his first ball and the 25-year-old was the best of the bowlers as he finished with three for 15 in two fantastic overs, claiming two more wickets in the final over as the Dolphins were restricted to 98 for six.

With the visitors having been 62 for one after five overs, it was a brilliant comeback by our Pride, with Nqaba Peter further showing that he is one of the best young spin-bowling talents in the country as his two overs cost just 13 runs.

Rickelton blasted 19 off the first over of the DP World Lions innings and went on to produce the best ball-striking of the match, collecting four fours and four sixes. His opening partner, Reeza Hendricks, also continued to show fine form as he scored 18 off just nine deliveries as the Pride raced to 59 in the first four overs.

Having performed so magnificently in the last week, the #PrideOfJozi will now enjoy some well-earned time off, their next match being against the North-West Dragons at the DP World Wanderers Stadium next Sunday, April 14.