SA's First Class system is not helping Proteas, says Conrad

Unless Cricket South Africa (CSA) can create a First Class system that provides matches of higher quality and intensity, Shukri Conrad believes the Proteas will continue to struggle at Test level.

The newly appointed coach of the Test team echoed sentiments expressed by CSA director of cricket Enoch Nkwe, who earlier this week said more innovative ways would have to be found to improve the standard of the domestic game than simply playing more matches.

“Our First Class cricket is a low-pressure environment and doesn’t provide a true test for the players,” said Conrad.

Two elements to the Test team needed to be interrogated. “Are the players our best? If the answer is ‘yes’, how do we improve them? If they answer is ‘no’, who are the players we’ve got to pick? If it’s the latter we also need to look at the First Class system, which, let's be honest, is not very good.

“We have to create a First Class environment that is high-pressure. How do we do that? Perhaps we create matches involving combined teams; a ‘north vs south’ type match. Whatever we do we have to ensure there is more intensity and quality in our First Class game.”

Ironically, when Conrad last coached at domestic level in 2010 was when the franchise system was still in place. That era saw just six teams — a combination of different provincial sides — which when instituted in 2004/2005 was to improve the quality of the domestic game.

However, CSA decided to do away with the system for financial and development reasons. The franchises, which CSA had hoped would become self-sustaining, were too reliant on the national body for money, while its development initiatives created a wider pool of players, many of whom couldn’t break into any of the six franchises.

Last season the domestic system switched back to a provincial one, with 15 teams — including two new additions in Mpumalanga and Limpopo — with two divisions. The Covid-19 pandemic also led to fewer matches being scheduled, which continued this season because of CSA’s financial problems.

The players have expressed concern and are conducting a review of the system through their union, the South African Cricketers' Association, with the findings set to be shared with CSA at the end of the season.

There have been calls for more matches. This season the eight Division 1 teams will play between 21 and 24 matches across all three formats, with just a single round of matches in each competition. That has meant the schedule can be skewed — for example the DP World (Central Gauteng) Lions play six of their seven Four Day matches at inland venues, with their sole trip to a coastal area a match against Boland in Paarl.

As a result players aren’t exposed to a variety of conditions, which affects the quality of their development.

Conrad is frank about the uphill struggle he faces turning around the fortunes of a Test team that has lost four of its past five matches, with the batting especially concerning.

“The Test side is low on confidence. We have an absolutely gun bowling unit. The batting is the problem. ,There are a myriad of reasons for that; we created spicy home pitches which left the batters with no confidence and there’s the First Class system, among other things.”

There were no South Africans in the top 20 Test run scorers in 2022, with captain Dean Elgar finishing with the highest aggregate of 577 runs, but those runs were scored at a mediocre average of 28.85. Temba Bavuma was the only batter to finish with an average of 40 and only two other batters, Kyle Verreynne and Keegan Petersen, averaged more than 30.

Conrad won’t shy away from having what he termed “hard conversations”, be that with players or selectors.

“We can’t carry on in the same way. There is a playing philosophy and the players will have to match up to that. It will test the character of the players and we will have hard, open conversations about their concerns.

“Ultimately, the team gets judged on the cricket we play. We have to win.”