SA20: Graeme Smith on why new T20 league is imperative to South Africa's future
By Daniel Gallan
Cricket writer
Graeme Smith loves
Test cricket.
He doesn't use such simplistic language during
our hour-long conversation, but his relationship with the longest and oldest
format cannot be questioned.
He made his name in whites. He was 22 when he
first skippered South Africa and would do so 109 times, more than any other
Test captain.
He was immense at the top of the order,
amassing 9,265 runs at 48.25, recording two double tons on his inaugural tour
of England in 2003.
In 2009 he became the first South African
captain to win a series in Australia en route to securing the number one
ranking in the world, a feat he'd achieve twice in his storied career.
And yet, despite his own narrative and
highlights reel, he is the architect of a new T20 franchise competition that
could further consign Test cricket to an anachronism in his country.
The SA20, scheduled for launch on 10 January
next year, comes at a time when South Africa's Test future hangs in the balance
after the Future Tours Programme limited the Proteas to just 28 Tests over the
next four years.
In comparison, England will play 43, Australia
40 and India 38.
"A lot of traditionalists are scared how
[the competition] will impact the world game," Smith said from a sunlit
coffee shop in Cape Town. "But why can't South Africa have its own league?
Why is that wrong? All of the top teams around the world have one of their own.
"South African cricket now has a seat at
the table. World cricket couldn't afford to see South Africa fade away."
Smith, officially the 'commissioner' of SA20,
recognises the competition can be viewed through the lens of a culture war.
The global schedule has never been more
constricted. Red-ball cricket is dwindling with only a handful of teams with
enough resources to stage a series of three matches or more.
Outside of the big three of India, Australia
and England, expansive tours stretching across multiple months are now relics
of a bygone era.
Naturally, many elite players are shelving
their whites for a plethora of coloured kits in numerous leagues.
"Every nation has to adjust," Smith
adds. "Every nation is also putting themselves first, and that's
understandable. The ICC [International Cricket Council] is essentially an
event-organising organisation.
"The pressures on the schedule come from
two sides, first from an ICC event in October and November, and then from the
[Indian Premier League] in March to May. That doesn't leave a lot of time for
bilateral tours which don't provide enough financial stability anyway.
"It is a changing environment. Franchise
cricket is growing. But there's no reason why it can't work with international
cricket. Playing for your country will always be the pinnacle, but I firmly
believe that if South African cricket didn't have this, they'd lose players to
other leagues and you'd see South African cricket disappear from the map.
"If we don't invest in our best players,
we won't see them again."
Back in South Africa, the tournament has
stirred up other anxieties. The six city-based teams are all owned by IPL
franchise owners and will bear their names.
Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan will play for the
Paarl Royals, an affiliate of the Rajasthan Royals, while Reece Topley will
turn his arm over for Durban's Super Giants, an off-shoot of the outfit from
Lucknow.
South African business and corporations were
involved in the bidding war for team ownership but were unsuccessful.
"We had a range of criteria and the IPL
owners were streets ahead on every count," Smith revealed. The BBC's
request to see the list was denied.
"What we didn't want was to have a
scenario where one team couldn't afford to pay for the best players,"
Smith added. "If one team struggled to keep pace the whole thing would
fall flat.
"You want to put together a product that
is of a standard that can have the biggest chance to be successful."
Success on the pitch in South African sport
comes in many guises. Winning, of course, is imperative, but the racial make-up
of the side is also important 28 years after the end of apartheid.
All national and domestic teams under the
auspices of Cricket South Africa (CSA) must have a minimum number of
'non-white' players drawn from 'Black African' players, and those of
south-Asian or mixed-race origin.
SA20 is an independent league and is not beholden
to the same selection targets. And at the player auction last month, this
yielded an uncomfortable result.
Temba Bavuma, the Proteas white-ball captain
and still the only Black African with a Test century for South Africa, remained
unsold. In truth, there were sound cricketing reasons for his omission because
he has struggled through a poor run of form.
No matter, the optics were a concern and
prompted questions around the tournament's social impact on the good of the
game in the country.
"I was hugely disappointed for Temba and
sent him a message of support," Smith says. "There were other players
as well who went unsold and of course you feel for them. But there were many
who were picked, who now have a platform to showcase their talent."
Smith espouses the concept of trickle down
economics. He explains that every team owner is required to invest in the
grassroots development of South African cricket.
The details have yet to be worked out but a
spokesperson from CSA said a roadmap will soon be published. This is expected
to include academies, scouting networks and the training of coaches and youth
players in areas often left out by the class divide in South African sport.
A women's competition is also on the cards.
Smith couldn't say when it would happen and cited the Women's T20 World Cup in
South Africa in February as an obstacle he couldn't work around.
He did however promise that one would
"definitely happen, either in year two or year three", adding that,
"there is no doubt that we want to build this into our plans and we have
every intention of doing so."
Despite the numerous blowbacks, Smith is
hopeful the tournament will achieve its stated aims. That includes establishing
the second best league in the world, behind the IPL, while providing the financial
shot in the arm CSA requires to ensure its long-term future.
"Everyone needs to give us a
chance," Smith says, appealing for patience. "This is a big
opportunity. We want to develop a product that people can be proud of and want
to be a part of around the world.
"We're working together with CSA. This
needs to be a success and that would help CSA's four-day programme and their
grassroots programmes. We need to work together."
