Graeme Smith "world cricket doesn't want just 3 nations competing against each other in 10 years"

[Savak]

Graeme Smith "world cricket doesn't want just 3 nations competing against each other in 10 years"

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has written to the International Cricket Council (ICC) asking it to consider the financial losses less wealthy cricket boards have to incur when tours do not take place as planned. This letter comes on the back of Cricket Australia (CA) pulling out of South Africa tour in which both teams were slated to play three Tests.

In the letter, South Africa has termed Australia's decision to pull out of the series "against the spirit of sportsmanship", with implications for the credibility of the World Test Championship (WTC)

The letter also raises concerns that this decision by Australia will have a serious impact on the financial well-being of less-wealthy ICC members.

As per a report CSA has not lodged a formal complaint and it has sent its letter as a means of opening communication about finding the best possible outcome to maintain international cricket schedule during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier this month, Australia's three-match Test tour of South Africa was postponed due to an 'unacceptable' coronavirus risk. The Australian board had said that travelling from Australia to South Africa at this current time would have had an unacceptable level of health and safety risk to the visiting players.

As the series between Australia and South Africa got postponed, the ICC on Tuesday confirmed that New Zealand has now become the first team to qualify for the finals of the World Test Championship (WTC). India, Australia, and England are the other three teams that will be fighting it out to battle against New Zealand in the summit clash.

Cricket Australia had also clarified that it would not be asking the ICC to delay the WTC final and as a result, the fate of Tim Paine's side reaching the final depends on the upcoming four-match Test series between India and England.

"We have done everything we possibly can to make this tour happen and it's a very difficult and challenging situation in South Africa just now and that's what makes it even more heartbreaking that we're not able to go. We all knew the rules going in and I think that's what's made this decision really, really hard. We've done everything we possibly can to make the tour go ahead but in the end, we had to listen to the overwhelming medical advice, so we won't be pursuing that with the ICC, but it's just another reason why not being able to tour is so disappointing," quoted CA's Interim CEO, Nick Hockley as saying.

Link: https://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/cri...-australia-call-off-south-africa-tour-2366301

==

Comments: Pretty soft by CSA to go to the ICC with a begging bowl just after two tours by England and Australia were cancelled. In contrast the PCB played all of its cricket in the UAE for a full decade without any support from any of the other nations. Didn't see CSA raise any concerns about the financial well being of the less wealthy cricketing countries from 2010 to 2020.


====


South Africa director of cricket Graeme Smith has warned the International Cricket Council smaller member nations must get their fair share of Test tours against the so-called 'Big Three' or face future domination of the Twenty20 leagues.

South Africa are smarting after Australia opted to pull out of a three-Test tour in March due to Covid-19 fears even though the hosts said they had invested a considerable amount of money to meet the visitors' lengthy list of medical safety demands.

It has left financially-stricken Cricket South Africa with a significant loss of revenue, and with no time to find another opponent to fill the void. They have written to the ICC to seek financial redress.

Tours between cricket's Big Three - India, Australia and England - remain on schedule for 2021.

England and India are current playing the second of nine scheduled Tests this year, while Australia have already played the Indians at home and are also set for an Ashes series with England.

"The game needs leadership right now that understands the complexities. I don't think world cricket wants just three nations competing against each other in 10 years' time. How does that benefit the game?" Smith said on Monday.

"That would amplify the [Twenty20] leagues and they will get bigger and bigger, and probably the rest of the member nations will have little or no [international] content.

"The leadership at the ICC needs to address these issues now, which are being fast-tracked because of COVID. I think they have been caught a little off-guard."

Smith believes the Future Tours Programme, which sets out the cricket calendar for nations, has become too fluid with countries able to simply opt not to fulfil obligations.

"FTP will be a hugely challenging thing going forward with potentially eight ICC tournaments in the eight years, an extended IPL [Indian Premier League] and a lot of the calendar dominated by India, England and Australia," he said.

"It makes it challenging for the rest of the member nations, and just amplifies the stress on the likes of us and the other members that are looking for good content."

South Africa have just completed a Test and T20 tour of Pakistan and are set to host the same opponents in two short-format series in April.

Smith also admitted the relationship between South Africa and Australia has become "strained", and that attempts to reschedule the three-Test tour have so far met a dead-end.

"We are trying to find a way to fit it into the calendar cycle, which for us is important. We have had some initial engagements with Cricket Australia,"

"It hasn't been positive on trying to find a window, but we are working hard on it."

https://www.skysports.com/cricket/n...ia-and-australia-play-against-smaller-nations

===

Cricket South Africa director of cricket Graeme Smith on Monday called for the International Cricket Council to show leadership to prevent the sport being dominated by India, England and Australia. Smith told a virtual press conference that the relationship between Cricket South Africa and Cricket Australia "is definitely strained at this stage" following Australia's late decision to withdraw from a three-Test tour of South Africa because of concerns about Covid-19.

Smith was asked about CSA's decision to write to the ICC describing Australia's decision as "against the spirit of sportsmanship" and having implications for the credibility of the ICC World Test championship.

"More than anything, the ICC needs to have strong leadership going forward now," said Smith. "I believe Covid is amplifying the haves and the have-nots relationships across the board and how the future landscape is going to be handled."

Smith said cricket's future calendar was dominated by India, England and Australia.

"It makes it extremely challenging for the rest of the member nations," he said.

"The game needs leadership right now," said Smith. "It needs to understand the complexities. I don't think world cricket wants three nations competing against each other in ten years' time."

The former Test captain said that the dominance of the three major nations increased the likelihood of Twenty20 leagues getting "bigger and bigger", leaving the lesser cricket nation with fewer attractive fixtures.

"I think it's been fast-tracked because of Covid. These issues are becoming more and more relevant and amplified. I think the ICC found themselves a little bit off guard," he said.

Monday's press conference was called to provide details of the rest of South Africa's season, which will end with a recently-announced white-ball tour by Pakistan in April.

The Pakistan tour will provide another headache for CSA because it will probably clash with the lucrative Indian Premier League, expected to start in early April.

Several of South Africa's star players, including Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and Anrich Nortje, are committed to IPL teams as well as being contracted by CSA.

Smith said ideally he would like to see all South Africa's best players available for the Pakistan series but he admitted, "It's a little more complicated than that."

"We have also made a commitment to release our players over the years to IPL. There's always been a window that we have committed to as CSA and it's been in the calendar. It's something we need to robustly debate."

He said CSA was waiting for the dates for the IPL to be finalised.

He said internal discussions would take place in "coming days" after the South African team management returned from a tour of Pakistan which ended on Sunday.

https://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/sou...tick-up-for-nations-outside-big-three-2371222

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Yeah right. A corrupt to the core organisation trying to leech off ICC now. They will not get anything.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has written to the International Cricket Council (ICC) asking it to consider the financial losses less wealthy cricket boards have to incur when tours do not take place as planned. This letter comes on the back of Cricket Australia (CA) pulling out of South Africa tour in which both teams were slated to play three Tests.

In the letter, South Africa has termed Australia's decision to pull out of the series "against the spirit of sportsmanship", with implications for the credibility of the World Test Championship (WTC)

The letter also raises concerns that this decision by Australia will have a serious impact on the financial well-being of less-wealthy ICC members.

As per a report CSA has not lodged a formal complaint and it has sent its letter as a means of opening communication about finding the best possible outcome to maintain international cricket schedule during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier this month, Australia's three-match Test tour of South Africa was postponed due to an 'unacceptable' coronavirus risk. The Australian board had said that travelling from Australia to South Africa at this current time would have had an unacceptable level of health and safety risk to the visiting players.

As the series between Australia and South Africa got postponed, the ICC on Tuesday confirmed that New Zealand has now become the first team to qualify for the finals of the World Test Championship (WTC). India, Australia, and England are the other three teams that will be fighting it out to battle against New Zealand in the summit clash.

Cricket Australia had also clarified that it would not be asking the ICC to delay the WTC final and as a result, the fate of Tim Paine's side reaching the final depends on the upcoming four-match Test series between India and England.

"We have done everything we possibly can to make this tour happen and it's a very difficult and challenging situation in South Africa just now and that's what makes it even more heartbreaking that we're not able to go. We all knew the rules going in and I think that's what's made this decision really, really hard. We've done everything we possibly can to make the tour go ahead but in the end, we had to listen to the overwhelming medical advice, so we won't be pursuing that with the ICC, but it's just another reason why not being able to tour is so disappointing," quoted CA's Interim CEO, Nick Hockley as saying.

Link: https://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/cri...-australia-call-off-south-africa-tour-2366301

==

Comments: Pretty soft by CSA to go to the ICC with a begging bowl just after two tours by England and Australia were cancelled. In contrast the PCB played all of its cricket in the UAE for a full decade without any support from any of the other nations. Didn't see CSA raise any concerns about the financial well being of the less wealthy cricketing countries from 2010 to 2020.

Pakistan always had the money. Management of that money was the issue.

 

[James]

I tentatively predict that CSA will be returned the princely sum of zero pounds.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Its unfair what happened to CSA, but to get any help, they must first remove the govt nominated body.

 

[Forward Defensive Push]

I somehow suspect the sandpapergate created a lot of tension between these 2 boards. Australia will definitely not leave CSA so easily.. They will make them pay

 

[Savak]

Pakistan always had the money. Management of that money was the issue.

Which makes this even more bizzare as to why is CSA struggling, they have had the benefit of having to host India numerous times in the last decade, they have also hosted England and Australia many times. These are major money spinning nations. They should have zero excuses to be in the financial quagmire that they find themselves in today

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Which makes this even more bizzare as to why is CSA struggling, they have had the benefit of having to host India numerous times in the last decade, they have also hosted England and Australia many times. These are major money spinning nations. They should have zero excuses to be in the financial quagmire that they find themselves in today

Simple answer. They are highly corrupt.
SA as a country is not going well due to this high level of corruption as well. There economic outlook is not so positive.

 

[Savak]

Simple answer. They are highly corrupt.
SA as a country is not going well due to this high level of corruption as well. There economic outlook is not so positive.

Lol you should check out the corruption reports on Pakistan. Definitely must be higher than South Africa by a distance.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Y

Lol you should check out the corruption reports on Pakistan. Definitely must be higher than South Africa by a distance.

That’s not the point even India is highly corrupt. But there is lot of money to be made in cricket so I would say our corrupt politicians are more smarter, as economic outlook of both countries is positive. In SA, even there economy has been run to ground. Reflecting in there teams performance as well. SRL has same issues. Corrupt and not smart people running the show.
Indian politicians know how to keep the golden goose of cricket alive and kicking and don’t interfere much. Same is the case in Pakistan I believe.

 

[skhe8057]

This is a dumb response

 

[Markhor]

The scheduling right now is a complete farce. Nobody has anybody idea who is playing what when.

A competent governing body would've sat all the member boards down, chucked the old FTP out the window and redrawn the calendar in light of Covid.

 

[leonidas_alexandar]

Relations between CSA and CA 'strained', admits Graeme Smith

Relations between Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Australia (CA) remain "strained," as South Africa seek to move on from the indefinite postponement of a three-Test series that was due to take place on the Highveld in March.

With no international teams available to play in that prime summer window, CSA's director of cricket Graeme Smith announced that South Africa will play domestic four-day cricket over that period and will soon announce a busy winter program to tide the men's national team over to next summer. There is no indication of when the Australia series will be rescheduled.

"The relationship is definitely strained at this stage," Smith said, in a virtual press engagement on Monday morning. "There is an effort from our side to engage and set up a meeting at board level. Engagement needs to happen to improve things between South Africa and Australia."

Smith reiterated that South Africa would like to play Australia "in this calendar cycle," but conceded it is becoming increasingly tough to find a window. "We've had some engagement with the operations side of Cricket Australia and it hasn't been positive on trying to find a window but we are working hard," he said.

Last week, as reported by ESPNcricinfo, CSA wrote to both the ICC and CA to express their dismay at the tour being postponed and to warn that smaller nations are being sidelined by the Big Three. Smith added that the Coronavirus pandemic is making it more difficult for less wealthy nations to secure financially-rewarding visits from England, India and Australia.

Covid-19 has amplified the haves and the have-nots. The FTP is going to be challenging with potentially eight ICC tournaments in eight years, an extended IPL and a lot of the calendar dominated by England, India and Australia. It makes it extremely challenging for the rest of the member nations," he said.

"The game needs leadership. It needs to understand the complexities. I don't think world cricket wants three nations competing against each other in 10 years time. How does that benefit the game? It doesn't. That will amplify the leagues and leagues will get bigger and the rest of the nations will have little to no content. It has been fast-tracked because of Covid. These issues are becoming more relevant and amplified and the ICC have found themselves a little bit off guard with these issues."

In the absence of a formal complaint, CSA have no recourse against CA and have to make do with a leaner summer calendar and less money. Apart from the costs they incurred in attempting to set-up a biosecure environment for the Australia tour, CSA will also not make R40 million (US$2.7 million) in television revenue until the series takes place. Additionally, they have also spent extra money in setting up biobubbles for domestic competitions including the one-day cup and the T20 tournament, which starts on Thursday. "I don't have a figure but it's a lot more than what we have paid in the past," Smith said.

All nationally contracted players will be available for the T20 tournament, adding some heft to a usually low-key affair. They are also required to play in the four-day competition and CSA are in talks with pay-television provider SuperSport to have some matches televised before South Africa host Pakistan for three ODIs and four T20s in April.

The Pakistan series is likely to clash with the early part of the IPL, and CSA is yet to confirm if they will release their top players and play a second-string side against Pakistan or keep the contracted players at home.

"We haven't made a definitive decision on that yet. We've just announced those fixtures. We are still waiting on dates for the IPL so internal engagement needs to happen with management and selectors and we need to get into a discussion over how we are going to move forward with the IPL," Smith said. "My opinion is that we need to invest in South African cricket and it needs to come first but we have made a commitment to release our players over the years to IPL. It's something we will need to robustly debate."

South Africa are facing a West Indies-style conundrum now where they know it is more lucrative for players to participate in leagues like the IPL but they also need to keep as many players involved with the national set-up as possible to build consistency in a time of transition.

Since Mark Boucher took over in December 2019, South Africa have won only two out of eight trophies and have failed to make gains on the World Test Championship or limited-overs' leagues. They've also had long breaks in play because of the pandemic, something Smith hopes will change in the winter.

"We need to get our players playing," he said. "We've got a lot of growth to happen in the men's game. Players need to step up. We've got to improve and we've got to get the team playing. That's my ultimate goal."

Potential fixtures could include rescheduling a white-ball tour to Sri Lanka, which was postponed last May, or a visit to the Caribbean, which was due to take place last July. South Africa are also looking at a visit to India before the T20 World Cup. The FTP, as it currently stands, has India visiting South Africa in the 2021-22 summer, an away trip to New Zealand and a home series against Bangladesh but all these fixtures are subject to what Covid-19 restrictions are in place and to securing player safety, which has made planning the cricket calendar more complicated than ever.

"There is an FTP schedule but some of these windows were worked out ages ago and there is an opportunity for members to manoeuvre, to add tours or to make up for lost tours," Smith said. "These details take a bit more time, especially with every nation trying to fill the gaps caused by Covid-19. It's a bit of a bunfight out there."

 

[Rana]

PCB CSA Bhai Bhai

Target: Big 3

 

[leonidas_alexandar]

Just 3 cricket boards being financially healthy is certainly not good for the global good of the game.

Out of all the remaining boards - Pakistan seems to be the one which can eventually aim to be financially self reliant - especially once teams start touring them more often and they continue to rack up victories at home which in turn will enthuse the sponsors to pump in more money into Pakistan cricket.

 

[leonidas_alexandar]

PCB CSA Bhai Bhai

Target: Big 3

The first part is what both boards should focus on. I believe there is no need to target any of the Big 3 because it won't work and also it is not needed.

 

[Saj]

Didn't the CSA support the Big 3 in the past?

Now CA have cancelled a tour of South Africa, suddenly they have changed their tune?

 

[Savak]

Didn't the CSA support the Big 3 in the past?

Now CA have cancelled a tour of South Africa, suddenly they have changed their tune?

Lol everyone cries when their wallets are hit big time

 

[UzmanBeast]

Didn't the CSA support the Big 3 in the past?

Now CA have cancelled a tour of South Africa, suddenly they have changed their tune?

People won't care about anything happening unless it happens to them, then they will proceed to create so many stories out of it.

That is the case in almost all aspects of life.

 

[Bewal Express]

A team chosen on total merit from SA will always be in the top 2 or 3 and with with their rugby physiques, probably 1st. They have an amazing private school system geared towards producing rugby players but as a bye product they produce excellent cricketers. The reason CSA is in trouble is because of the failed attempt at a T20 league and desperate attempt to find black administrators.

 

[Bilal7]

Cricket is a dying sport. A couple of years ago, I would have never admitted it but its true. It has failed to catch on beyond its traditional markets and even there, interest in cricket in dying. From personal experience, a sport as new as MMA has caught the interest of people of Pakistani heritage. Let alone soccer and basketball.

People can mockingly say that cricket has been dying for centuries but the fact of the matter is that the cricket boards of historically great cricketing nations are going bankrupt. This has never happened before, as far as I'm aware. Coupled with the pressures being excerted by T20 and T10 leagues, the present situation does not have a precedent.

Cricket has been horribly managed with individual boards given too much autonamy by the ICC. T20 leagues should have never been allowed to profilerate like this and should have been given a specific window in the cricketing year. The BCCI and CA should not have been allowed to cancel tours based on their whims and desires, without severe penalties. The ICC tried to copy the soccer model without realizing that it would never work for cricket.

Enjoy it while you still can. The players you see today might be the last ones to play test cricket.

 

[Bilal7]

A team chosen on total merit from SA will always be in the top 2 or 3 and with with their rugby physiques, probably 1st. They have an amazing private school system geared towards producing rugby players but as a bye product they produce excellent cricketers. The reason CSA is in trouble is because of the failed attempt at a T20 league and desperate attempt to find black administrators who to a person have been corrupt.

Yes, because the greatest cricketers of all time, the likes of Bradman, Imran, Sachin, Wasim, Murali along with South Africa's own, Amla, Steyn and de Villiers were trotting around with "rugby physiques".

No team can ever stay on top, without experiencing a decline due to the greats retiring and the team rebuilding. This has nothing to do with the quota system, which has worked well. Rabada, Bavuma and Maharaj are all good players. It certainly has nothing to do with "black administrators".

An absolutely pathetic post. I'm not sure how the mods tolerate such thinly-veiled racism.

 

[Varun]

I somehow suspect the sandpapergate created a lot of tension between these 2 boards. Australia will definitely not leave CSA so easily.. They will make them pay

Why, what did South Africa do wrong in sandpapergate?

 

[Bewal Express]

Yes, because the greatest cricketers of all time, the likes of Bradman, Imran, Sachin, Wasim, Murali along with South Africa's own, Amla, Steyn and de Villiers were trotting around with "rugby physiques".

No team can ever stay on top, without experiencing a decline due to the greats retiring and the team rebuilding. This has nothing to do with the quota system, which has worked well. Rabada, Bavuma and Maharaj are all good players. It certainly has nothing to do with "black administrators".

An absolutely pathetic post. I'm not sure how the mods tolerate such thinly-veiled racism.

SA have produced some of the great batsman of all time from this school system. The rugby physiques help with power and fitness for both batsman and particularly fast bowlers.
It may seem racist but maybe you can look at the evidence. Most of the black administrators sadly have seen the CSA as a cash cow. As someone that hated the evils of apartheid, the corruption is sad and will destroy SA

https://www.news24.com/sport/cricke...mning-findings-against-thabang-moroe-20201005
https://www.corruptionwatch.org.za/tag/csa/

 

[Stewie]

Why did CA cancel the tour? What was the reason?

 

[Saj]

Why did CA cancel the tour? What was the reason?

A statement from CA said it believed it had no choice but to cancel the series "due to the public health situation in South Africa", including a second wave and a new strain of coronavirus.

"Following extensive due diligence with medical experts, it has become clear that traveling from Australia to South Africa at this current time poses an unacceptable level of health and safety risk to our players, support staff and the community," CA chief executive Nick Hockley said.

 

[Stewie]

A statement from CA said it believed it had no choice but to cancel the series "due to the public health situation in South Africa", including a second wave and a new strain of coronavirus.

"Following extensive due diligence with medical experts, it has become clear that traveling from Australia to South Africa at this current time poses an unacceptable level of health and safety risk to our players, support staff and the community," CA chief executive Nick Hockley said.

England has that extra lethal variant going around too. I wonder if teams would have canceled tours to England.

 

[Bewal Express]

A statement from CA said it believed it had no choice but to cancel the series "due to the public health situation in South Africa", including a second wave and a new strain of coronavirus.

"Following extensive due diligence with medical experts, it has become clear that traveling from Australia to South Africa at this current time poses an unacceptable level of health and safety risk to our players, support staff and the community," CA chief executive Nick Hockley said.

Would they have cancelled a series against Ind faced with the same health hazards, no chance.

 

[Wristy_Shuffler]

Cricket is a dying sport. A couple of years ago, I would have never admitted it but its true. It has failed to catch on beyond its traditional markets and even there, interest in cricket in dying. From personal experience, a sport as new as MMA has caught the interest of people of Pakistani heritage. Let alone soccer and basketball.

People can mockingly say that cricket has been dying for centuries but the fact of the matter is that the cricket boards of historically great cricketing nations are going bankrupt. This has never happened before, as far as I'm aware. Coupled with the pressures being excerted by T20 and T10 leagues, the present situation does not have a precedent.

Cricket has been horribly managed with individual boards given too much autonamy by the ICC. T20 leagues should have never been allowed to profilerate like this and should have been given a specific window in the cricketing year. The BCCI and CA should not have been allowed to cancel tours based on their whims and desires, without severe penalties. The ICC tried to copy the soccer model without realizing that it would never work for cricket.

Enjoy it while you still can. The players you see today might be the last ones to play test cricket.

Kind of agree but at the same time, it might just be a case of cricket going through a phase of change. It's still the second most popular sport in the world by participation numbers. ATM Aus-Ind-Eng seem like the only nations able to afford long test series and play each other regularly and if other teams aren't able to compete on and off the field, the test game will slowly die. We need strong SA, Pak, WI, BD sides and eventually Afghanistan and Ireland.

I did read somewhere that with the return of cricket on freeview TV in UK, India vs England test had double the viewership during peak time than when it was on paid tele but that's with lockdown/covid happening as well.

 

[Minnowbasher]

CSA, PCB and other non big 3 nations need to work together to help keep each others nations afloat. Pakistan and South Africa should play 4-5 test matches series and play each other as regularly as Australia and India do. Will only improve both the teams.

 

[Rana]

If PCB can just raise their White ball game a bit, they could form a lesser big 3 with New Zealand and South Africa.

Play each other all the time lol

 

[Hasan123]

These boards need to take responsibility for their own problems instead of looking to blame the big 3 for them. It is not the big 3 responsibility to help out other boards. Although I was disappointed that Australia opted out of the South Africa series as South Africa did seem to do a lot to make the tour happen .

 

[Colorblind Genius]

The current situation of CSA is a small example.
The entire country is falling apart.

I visited South Africa a few years ago and our current and previous Au Pairs (Indian decent) also come from South Africa.

With the small sample size of the people that I met in South Africa (in Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria), and various discussions with our two South African Au Pairs, I sense a common notion.

They seem to agree that yes Apartheid was bad and it had to end, but there should’ve been some other solution.
The handover has cause the country to take a nose dive, and there is no hope.

 

[Bewal Express]

CSA, PCB and other non big 3 nations need to work together to help keep each others nations afloat. Pakistan and South Africa should play 4-5 test matches series and play each other as regularly as Australia and India do. Will only improve both the teams.

Not enough TV and sponsorship

 

[Savak]

I remember how the South Africa team which used to have Kirsten, Hudson, Gibbs, Smith, Cullinan, Kallis, Cronje, ABD, Boucher, Pollock, Klusenar, Donald, Steyn, Ntini, Morkel, Symcox, Hall, Nell would brutally and ruthlessly sledge, abuse subcontinent players from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka whenever they would tour South Africa in the 90's, early to mid 2000's.

To see them fall to these depths in some ways is poetic justice now.

 

[Bewal Express]

I remember how the South Africa team which used to have Kirsten, Hudson, Gibbs, Smith, Cullinan, Kallis, Cronje, ABD, Boucher, Pollock, Klusenar, Donald, Steyn, Ntini, Morkel, Symcox, Hall, Nell would brutally and ruthlessly sledge, abuse subcontinent players from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka whenever they would tour South Africa in the 90's, early to mid 2000's.

To see them fall to these depths in some ways is poetic justice now.

They also did it to the Aussies. That's where the Cullinan-Warne bitterness comes from

 

[hurricanes]

Would they have cancelled a series against Ind faced with the same health hazards, no chance.

Have you heard of cost benefit analysis?

 

[hurricanes]

would they have cancelled a series against ind faced with the same health hazards, no chance.

na

 

[sivanand82]

PCB + Mani will break the back of big three.That is the plan in long term.

 

[Savak]

It was CSA along with Sri Lanka, West Indies who betrayed the PCB against the Big 3 in 2014. Don't recall CSA shedding any tears for the PCB from 2010 to 2020. If the PCB got no bail out from the ICC, neither should CSA

 

[msb314]

Cricket is a dying sport. A couple of years ago, I would have never admitted it but its true. It has failed to catch on beyond its traditional markets and even there, interest in cricket in dying. From personal experience, a sport as new as MMA has caught the interest of people of Pakistani heritage. Let alone soccer and basketball.

People can mockingly say that cricket has been dying for centuries but the fact of the matter is that the cricket boards of historically great cricketing nations are going bankrupt. This has never happened before, as far as I'm aware. Coupled with the pressures being excerted by T20 and T10 leagues, the present situation does not have a precedent.

Cricket has been horribly managed with individual boards given too much autonamy by the ICC. T20 leagues should have never been allowed to profilerate like this and should have been given a specific window in the cricketing year. The BCCI and CA should not have been allowed to cancel tours based on their whims and desires, without severe penalties. The ICC tried to copy the soccer model without realizing that it would never work for cricket.

Enjoy it while you still can. The players you see today might be the last ones to play test cricket.

Agree 100%

However - it is not all doom and gloom

The biggest market for cricket is not from China or even the US / Canada. It actually is from the Europeans - hence how soccer has grown on such a global basis.

Right now - only the UK is a major cricketing nation but ICC must give opportunities to Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Germany, France etc. particularly in T20 cricket.

I don't care how bad these teams will be but the T20 WC has to be a world affair with 32 teams. That is how the other nations will grow and get exposure. The T20 format is the perfect opportunity to Associate teams to grow and is the only format where they have a chance of causing an upset.

I agree that the Big 3 has been a nail in the coffin for the other cricketing nations and the ICC should have just mandated bilateral series evenly across the calendar year. Just like FIFA does when it comes to International Friendlies. They have let politics and the cash cow dictate terms and now we are in this mess..

 

[Golden arm]

Didn't the CSA support the Big 3 in the past?

Now CA have cancelled a tour of South Africa, suddenly they have changed their tune?

Just recently they backed out of block led by imran khwaja and Ehsan Mani and now moaning.
It's too late now boys.
Man up and bear the front

 

[Golden arm]

Agree 100%

However - it is not all doom and gloom

The biggest market for cricket is not from China or even the US / Canada. It actually is from the Europeans - hence how soccer has grown on such a global basis.

Right now - only the UK is a major cricketing nation but ICC must give opportunities to Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Germany, France etc. particularly in T20 cricket.

I don't care how bad these teams will be but the T20 WC has to be a world affair with 32 teams. That is how the other nations will grow and get exposure. The T20 format is the perfect opportunity to Associate teams to grow and is the only format where they have a chance of causing an upset.

I agree that the Big 3 has been a nail in the coffin for the other cricketing nations and the ICC should have just mandated bilateral series evenly across the calendar year. Just like FIFA does when it comes to International Friendlies. They have let politics and the cash cow dictate terms and now we are in this mess..

Europeon T20 league has been doing awesome job and has organised thousands of cricket matches.

I guess still the biggest market is US. Once they build a competitive team in 2 to 3 years time this would be money making venue for other countries.
They are already on the fringes and have a good talent pool of indian Pakistanis and Caribbean talent. Ali khan stands out.

 

[Golden arm]

Just recently they backed out of block led by imran khwaja and Ehsan Mani and now moaning.
It's too late now boys.
Man up and bear the front

bear the brunt

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

bear the brunt

Nah they will get the benefit of that with Indian tours. They will be fine.

 

[msb314]

Europeon T20 league has been doing awesome job and has organised thousands of cricket matches.

I guess still the biggest market is US. Once they build a competitive team in 2 to 3 years time this would be money making venue for other countries.
They are already on the fringes and have a good talent pool of indian Pakistanis and Caribbean talent. Ali khan stands out.

I highly doubt US will ever become a big market for cricket. It just has too many sports and it is unlikely a Commonwealth sport will every get a footing their.

 

[dildilpak]

Why is CSA still blaming CA for the tour cancellation? The SA Covid variant forced CA’s hand, maybe even some govt pressure was at play here (we all know how Aus/Nz have been belligerent about Covid). If CSA had kept a cool head, they could have had reworked a tour with them once everyone is vaccinated or something, but no they had to burn their boat. This doesn't help CSA’s cause at all.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Just recently they backed out of block led by imran khwaja and Ehsan Mani and now moaning.
It's too late now boys.
Man up and bear the front

Imran Khawaja got elected as ICC VC recently and CSA has supposedly voted for him. There is lots of buzz around the time CSA voted for Khawaja in the deputy chairman race and CA pulling out at about the same time.

There was no chance of Khawaja being voted ICC chair with BCCI not walking away. Mani may try as much as he wants, he isn't going to Trump the Bcci. He doesn't have the means.

 

[Dingolfy]

SA have produced some of the great batsman of all time from this school system. The rugby physiques help with power and fitness for both batsman and particularly fast bowlers.
It may seem racist but maybe you can look at the evidence. Most of the black administrators sadly have seen the CSA as a cash cow. As someone that hated the evils of apartheid, the corruption is sad and will destroy SA

https://www.news24.com/sport/cricke...mning-findings-against-thabang-moroe-20201005
https://www.corruptionwatch.org.za/tag/csa/

If physical strength mattered much in cricket, then we would see West Indies ruling the roost again. And Kiwi cricket team would be filled with Maoris and Australians would have pacific islanders.
Black people in SA has been under brutal oppression for many years and only got their freedom in the 90’s. What you are saying now has been said about American blacks in the 60’s and look how they dominate American sports now. So, it would take some time for SA blacks to reach the level of white folks.

 

[MenInG]

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Australia got its facts wrong when it made a “unilateral” decision to cancel a cricket tour to South Africa because of COVID-19, the acting head of the South African board said Friday.

Stavros Nicolaou said Cricket South Africa was left “puzzled” by Cricket Australia's decision two weeks ago to not travel for a three-test series next month. At the time, the Australians said South Africa was at the “peak” of a second wave of coronavirus infections and had a “more virulent strain” of the virus.

Both points were incorrect, Cricket South Africa interim board chairman Nicolaou said on a conference call with reporters.

“We were very confused with that statement and we are still unpacking that statement with our Australian counterparts,” Nicolaou said. “We definitely don't agree.”

Although South Africa's second wave of virus infections peaked in January, it had subsided significantly by the time Australia announced it was canceling on Feb. 2, Nicolaou said. He said Australia didn't give South Africa a chance to clarify the local situation before taking “a unilateral decision.”

His analysis was backed up by the fact that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the relaxation of some lockdown restrictions a day earlier on Feb. 1 due to a major decrease in new COVID-19 cases in the country. New cases have continued decreasing since and the Australians were not due to fly in until the end of this month.

There is also no evidence that the variant first identified in South Africa in December causes more serious disease, according to health experts, although it might be more contagious. Nicolaou said Australia was suggesting the variant was more harmful.

"We don’t agree there’s a more virulent strain (in South Africa). More contagious, not more virulent,” Nicolaou said.

South Africa has publicly stated how bitterly disappointed it was at Australia's decision, which came even after South Africa agreed to put in place much more extensive bio-bubble preparations for the Australian squad to meet their demands.

That involved giving Australia exclusive access to the hotel that both teams were originally planning to share for the series, and forcing hotel staff to quarantine for a much longer time before the Australians arrived in South Africa, according to South African media reports. The extra plans came at a high cost to Cricket South Africa.

Some of Nicolaou's comments Friday also reflected a current sentiment in international cricket that the sport's three richest nations — India, England and Australia — might be taking advantage of fears over the pandemic to avoid tours to lower-profile countries. That frees them up for money-spinning series among themselves.

South Africa is still disgruntled over England's decision to cut short a limited-overs tour of the country in December after hotel workers tested positive for the coronavirus in the tour bio-bubble and England raised the alarm that two of its touring members had been infected. Those two English positives turned out to be false positives, but England still left halfway through the tour.

Despite raising fears over COVID then, England has since embarked on a big-ticket test tour of India, which has more than 10 million confirmed coronavirus cases, the second-highest in the world behind the United States.

“One needs to assess these cancelations and postponements,” Nicolaou said. "What it means to the smaller nations, the poorer nations, or those with less resources. And I think there is a recalibration that needs to take place in cricket in that respect.”

Nicolaou said South Africa had submitted a formal complaint to the International Cricket Council over Australia's cancelation, although it's unclear what the governing body can do when a country cites player safety for its decision

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4131593

 

[Convict]

Would they have cancelled a series against Ind faced with the same health hazards, no chance.

Perth got put into lockdown for a week because one single person tested positive.

 

[Last Monetarist]

Perth got put into lockdown for a week because one single person tested positive.

If this were a tour to India, Cricket Australia would have gone cap in hand to get exemptions from the federal government. They would also have agreed to a 4-week quarantine for the players if required. There won't have been a single complaint from the players either. It's utterly naive to state that CA would have dealt with the situation in a similar manner with the BCCI.

 

[MenInG]

In what has been an unprecedented summer of cricket in South Africa, there is some good news on the horizon.

With England's limited-overs tour to South Africa cut short in November and Australia pulling out of their scheduled tour to the country a few weeks ago due to Covid-19 concerns, fans would have wondered when the next international match in the country would take place.

Luckily, Pakistan and Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirmed a limited overs tour to South Africa in April while director of cricket, Graeme Smith says that "a number of tours against India that are actually pretty close to being finalised."

Smith was speaking during a chat with commentator Pommie Mbangwa during CSA's T20 Challenge Series taking place in Durban where he indicated that discussions have already taken place with BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly.

"Myself and Sourav go a long way back and we've had a number of conversations," said Smith.

"India have been very supportive of us. Hopefully, in the next cycle we will have a number of tours against India that are actually pretty close to being finalised."

Smith said that it remained critical that countries continue to find ways to ensure tours go ahead, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Each country is facing different challenges. It's important that the members get together and support each other, and try and find ways to get as much done as we can," said Smith.

While details of potential tour to India or by Virat Kohli's men are still forthcoming, the Proteas next international series against Pakistan will comprise three ODIs and four T20Is starting on 2 April.

All matches will be played in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

view-source:https://www.news24.com/sport/cricke...-against-india-close-to-confirmation-20210227