Betway SA20 gives cricket fighting chance

With a dark cloud hanging over cricket in SA, there’s optimism from former Proteas captains Graeme Smith and Faf du Plessis that the inaugural Betway SA20 will revive the sport in the country.

With the concealed skeletons of the sport since readmission coming out recently during the Social Justice and Nation Building hearings, the disorganisation of Cricket SA and the Proteas’ all-around poor form, there’s been a lack of enthusiasm around the sport from the public. 

Even the local CSA competitions have dropped in standards, failing to prepare players for international cricket; and there has been a brewing frustration from players and fans because of performing players not getting opportunities at the international level. 

This whole mixture has seen cricket in the country at an all-time low. However, the SA20 has brought in a spark of excitement that the game has not experienced in a while. 

The T20 competition, which starts tomorrow with MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals doing battle at Newlands, Cape Town, hopes to bring a new lease of life to SA cricket. The online tickets that have sold out for the match, speak volumes about the excitement. 

Smith, who is the commissioner of the tournament, hopes it can bring the sport back to life.

“At the core, we’re a cricket product, yes, we’ve invested heavily in the look, the feel and entertainment and bringing back the energy of the game in SA.

“We all want to see South African cricket strong. We want to revive it. We want to get the people in the stands and enjoying what these players have to offer. At the core of it, it’s a cricket product; you think about the matchups, the teams, the quality of cricket and performances on the field,” he said. 

Du Plessis, who will captain the Joburg Super Kings, believes that this competition can deliver cricket in SA from dark times. 

“As South Africans, we need this competition for the game to grow,” said du Plessis during a captain press conference at the weekend. 

“Yes, people will feel like it’s a dark time right now, but we know with sport it can change so quickly, so hopefully this competition will make people feel optimistic about the future of South African cricket.”