Ken Borland

As rugby’s return-to-play has shown, getting teams to gel takes time and the Proteas are just relieved that it has finally been confirmed that they will at least have some domestic action starting on November 2 before they are flung back into the international arena.

South Africa last took the field on March 7 when they completed a 3-0 ODI sweep over Australia in Potchefstroom and it seems likely that they will host England in white-ball internationals in November. The 50-over world champions have enjoyed a full northern summer of action, however, while the only play available to the Proteas has been for those in the IPL.

But Cricket South Africa finally confirmed on Friday that domestic cricket will resume from November 2 with the Four-Day Franchise Series. Due to necessary cutbacks, the format has changed with the six teams split into two pools. Within their own pool, a franchise will play each team home and away, and then play the three sides in the other group once each, either home or away. It means the number of four-day games has been cut from 10 per franchise to seven, although there will be a final at the end of it all.

The Momentum One-Day Cup, which runs from January 8 to February 12, will be played under the same format, while the CSA T20 Challenge which ends the season will be played over a single round of five matches per franchise, followed by a final.

Proteas spinner Tabraiz Shamsi said on Friday that he was just happy to be able to get out on to the field and have some match practice before their international commitments resume.

“At least there will be cricket and we now have the fixtures and we won’t just have to rock up and play England or whoever else they have lined up for us. We’re very happy to now have certainty because you can train as much as you want but you can’t gauge where you’re at in the nets and the stakes are low at practice. At least we now know we’ll have some domestic fixtures before any potential international matches.

“There will still be mistakes when we play for the Proteas, but at least we’ll now have time to see what we’re not doing right. We won’t just be practising. I’m just happy that we now have some games because obviously there has been a lot going on with Covid-19, and we can’t be too picky. Any cricket is good and playing seven matches instead of 10 is better than nothing,” Shamsi told Saturday Citizen on Friday.

The Lions start the defence of their four-day title with a match against the fast-improving Dolphins in Durban from November 2-5, while Shamsi’s Titans side travel to Cape Town to take on the Cobras at the same time.

The bookmakers would probably fancy the Titans, last year’s runners-up, to have the slightly easier pool as they play the Cobras and Warriors home and away in the first four rounds. They then play the Dolphins at home before their crunch game against the Lions is at the Wanderers, from December 20-23. That is the penultimate round of fixtures, with the final round starting on February 18.

“In international cricket, you play the same guys all the time, but it will be funny playing just the Cobras and Warriors in the first four rounds. I guess if I’m bowling well then you wouldn’t want to keep playing against them because they could get used to my bowling. But all the teams are probably pretty balanced and there have been so many changes in personnel before this season.

“I can’t remember so many player movements before, so no-one really knows how strong or weak the various teams are. It’s going to be a bit of a lottery and it’s going to take a while to figure out the different match-ups in domestic cricket,” Shamsi said.

After sensationally bursting on the scene last year, 2020 has undoubtedly been a year of great frustration for Herschel Jantjies, but the 24-year-old scrumhalf has decided whatever time he has in the Springbok camp over the next couple of months will be a time of investment in making him an even better player.

Jantjies began 2019 not even sure of his spot as the Stormers No.1 scrumhalf, but his Super Rugby campaign was so outstanding that he was chosen for the Springbok squad, practically out of nowhere. His rapid ascension continued when he scored two tries on his Test debut in the 35-17 win against Australia at Ellis Park, and he ended the year as a Rugby Championship and World Cup winner, back-up to Faf de Klerk and with a nomination for World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year.

But then came 2020 and Jantjies’ woes started well before the Lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. His own form was as inconsistent as the Stormers’, and then he fractured his leg in their last game before Lockdown, against the Sharks in Durban. But the timing has been perfect for the Kylemore product and now that rugby has resumed, he is raring to go, as evidenced by his dynamic display last weekend against the Lions at Loftus Versfeld.

“It was actually a blessing in disguise having a fractured leg going into Lockdown. It meant I had the time to recover, it took six to seven weeks for the fracture to heal and then there was all the rehab and getting match fit. And now I’m really excited to be back and really looking forward to this week with the Springboks. In this week with the Gold squad, I’m just going to take in as much as I can because there’s a lot I can still improve on.

“It took quite a bit of time, but I was ready exactly when we planned – when we started full-on contact – and I just can’t wait to play some full-on rugby. In the meantime you’re never too old or too young to learn and I am still in the phase of my career when I am learning a lot. Then I just have to apply it to my game so I become a better player,” Jantjies said on Tuesday from Cape Town, where the Green and Gold squads are preparing for the Springbok Showdown at Newlands on Saturday.

Youngsters Damian Willemse and Curwin Bosch are the two flyhalves in the Gold squad and Herschel’s namesake but no relation, Elton Jantjies, is now the senior No.10 in the Springbok squad after Handre Pollard’s serious knee injury, and is intent on helping the less experienced wannabes along.

“It’s a big week for us because we want to get the alignment right between the old and new faces. It’s about being warriors, aligning with the group and having discipline. It’s really tough to lose Handre because he was starting to play really good, consistent rugby, and we helped each other. But if it’s my opportunity to fill that role then I’m definitely ready.

“In the meantime I just want to help the younger guys in the team to feel comfortable in the environment so that they can come out on Saturday and execute their skills. Until the Rugby Championship is confirmed, our main focus is on the Currie Cup/Super Rugby. But I’m sure we will be physically prepared and mentally as well,” Elton Jantjies said.

While sports minister Nathi Mthethwa praised Cricket South Africa on Friday for the establishment of their Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) project, he also used the launch as a convenient time to call for the organisation to release the forensic report into fired former CEO Thabang Moroe and called for the election of fresh leaders at the AGM on September 5.

CSA on Friday announced that Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, a man of significant stature who has served as an acting judge, a Truth and Reconciliation commissioner and is a sought-after legal academic overseas, will be the ombudsman and face of SJN. They also announced nine ambassadors who will help foster the transformation and nation-building objectives of the project in their communities – former Proteas Dinesha Devnarain, Shandre Fritz, Gary Kirsten, Lance Klusener, Marcia Letsoalo, Nulubabalo Ndzundzu, Makhaya Ntini, Geoff Toyana and Monde Zondeki.

The good news of the SJN launch followed the day after Moroe was formally fired with immediate effect by CSA, having been suspended since early December. The CSA Board have refused to make public, even to their own Members Council, the forensic report upon which Moroe’s verdict of being guilty of misconduct was based, but Mthethwa said on Friday in an online address that he expects the organisation to table the report when they meet with him next week.

Many critics believe the CSA Board don’t want to release the report because they are implicated in the same wrongdoing for which Moroe was dismissed.

“I am pleased with the move to establish the SJN project, it is a step in the right direction in the fight for transformation and they heave heard the cries of their ex-cricketers and listened to people like former president Ray Mali on how hurt he is about cricket. This will fight any sort of exclusion, South Africa is so rich in talent but we are not employing our full capacity.

“But when we meet next week for me to respond to CSA’s turnaround plan and the corrective steps they are going to take for the challenges they are facing, I also expect them to share with me and government the forensic report they promised last year to show me when it was available. I look forward to that and then the AGM is in CSA’s hands.

“But the leaders elected should be beyond reproach. Government would frown upon people being elected with questionable credentials. There is a cloud gripping cricket and they definitely need to make a clean move away from that. I would not be happy with a process that is opposed to that,” Mthethwa said.

The irony of a government minister saying CSA should not elect leaders of dubious integrity was exacerbated by where the launch was held, which will also be the location of the ombudsman’s office – Olympic House – the home of Sascoc, themselves embroiled in numerous governance scandals.

Nevertheless, Dr Eugenia Kula-Ameyaw, the CSA independent director in charge of transformation, had reason to be enthusiastic about the new body they have rapidly formed in response to the racial storm that has tarnished South African cricket. But despite the impressive figure in charge of SJN and the good intentions shown on Friday, the power that will determine the success of SJN, and whether it will actually improve the lot of future marginalised cricketers, lies with the CSA Board.

“The ombudsman will recommend to the Board what action should be taken, but the aim of the SJN is to engage, heal and restore. If we are mature enough then we can find something positive out of what is revealed, we do not want a legalistic approach. We will be looking at legacy issues and the lessons from the ombudsman will inform how we move forward. “We will support transformation in the rural areas, aggressively, and it’s all about how we make sure those issues do not happen again. The SJN will be integrated with the transformation committee, but as someone said, our future cricketers are not born to be part of what failed. This time around we really will transform and we have to make sure that it is not just on paper but seen on the field,” Kula-Ameyaw said.

South African bowling great Vernon Philander said on Wednesday that he experienced no racism during his time in the Proteas team but his support for the Black Lives Matter movement is based on what he classifieds as “inequality” in the cricket system.

Philander was one of 30 former Proteas to last week sign a letter supporting BLM and calling on Cricket South Africa to confront the problem of racial division in the sport. The 35-year-old retired from international cricket at the end of the Test series against England in January, with outstanding figures of 224 wickets in 64 matches, at an average of just 22.32.

“BLM has a totally different meaning in South Africa than abroad, here it stands for equality and respecting peoples’ views, everyone’s, regardless of the colour of their skin. Those questions of inequality are still relevant today if not worse. I support other causes like White farmers being murdered just as much, we’re not discounting one cause to support the other.

“We need to provide a lot more opportunities, we need to start building communities again. For me, transformation has been done completely wrong because we have taken Black cricketers out of their safety zones, out of their own clubs and schools. We need to restore dignity to these communities, give them facilities and coaches, provide the people with opportunities to enhance their lives with job creation,” Philander told The Citizen on Wednesday.

Philander comes from the humble Cape Town suburb of Ravensmead and has had to fight tremendously hard for every bit of the considerable success he has enjoyed. He was initially chosen for South Africa in limited-overs cricket in 2007, but in spite of being the dominant bowler in South African domestic cricket, spearheading the Cape Cobras’ drive to successive four-day titles in 2009/10 and 2010/11, he had to wait until November 2011 to make his return, in the Test side.

His impact was immediate and stunning, but not a surprise to those who had seen him make up for a lack of sheer pace with extraordinary skill and accuracy in franchise cricket.

“When I started playing, things were more chilled although there were one or two incidents in club cricket that caused a lot of upset people, mostly involving players of the older generation. I cannot vouch for any racism in the Proteas although being left out after 2007 without explanation was pretty hard. And my experience in the 2015 World Cup showed me that they need to protect the players much better. The whole team lost, we need to move past this business of blaming transformation or two or three players,” Philander said.

The key for Philander is the huge inequality that makes it much harder for Black players to reach the heights he did.

“We need to see the injustices and understand that they are still happening today. We want this to be a country for everyone but then there needs to be opportunity for everyone. My background was very poor and the time is now to speak up, without hatred but acknowledging that inequality is the big thing. We need to change mindsets and perceptions.

“It will take a massive effort, including from our White counterparts, but if we give all cricketers the same opportunity then we can take the best out of that and the team will really be chosen on merit. This is not about dropping standards, but we need to rebuild communities in order for them to compete on equal ground. We need to close the gaps in terms of facilities and coaching,” Philander said.