Be strong and go for strength

I am perturbed by the malaise that is currently surrounding the first-class game in South Africa. I am only too aware of the difficult decisions that need to be made but for the sake of sporting standards in this country thorny issues need to be addressed, and rectified.

In my view the current proposal tabled at the last United Cricket Board meeting for a two tier provincial competition will solve nothing.

Due to the substandard first-class competition that is currently in operation, (a direct result of too many teams), the need for a reformatting of the system has never been greater.

Why the demise?

First-class cricket in South Africa is in danger of becoming an out of touch Men’s Club that rewards mediocrity and discourages newcomers, as occurs in England.

One of the great, often under-estimated strengths of South African cricket was that if you hadn’t made it by the time you were 26, you had to go and find another career. There was always room for the young players to burst onto the scene.

Nothing excites like youthful enthusiasm as shown by Jacques Rudolph in his early provincial years (and now thankfully rewarded eventually). He didn’t know what failure was and just went out there and played his shots. Those are the type of talented players we all want to come through, young, talented, confident individuals with the world at their feet.

Sadly in South Africa, at provincial level, too many ageing professionals who frankly are not up to first-class level are making up the numbers and hanging on for all the wrong reasons. Simply because there are too many teams and who wants a proper job anyway?

Those hungry enough and talented enough will always make it. The opportunity has always been there to progress rapidly. We should never suppress young, rising talent.

There are first-class players involved today who are flattered by their selections. Some are simply filling in when the international players are away. SuperSport Series standards have become seriously devalued. Why reward mediocrity?

While there is still some good cricket being played today, the first-class competition is not what it was. That is the issue the players, administrators, broadcasters and sponsors should be addressing – not putting a set of third-tier cricketers into the comfort zone.

History is there for us to learn from. We can’t afford to ignore the rapid deterioration of English cricket due to similar parallels. The average County side may have one or two players in the Test side, maybe another couple of ex-internationals who never quite made it and the majority who never will play Test cricket. A recipe for a downward spiral in overall standards if ever there was one.

The cold reality about first-class cricket in this country is that the competition is not as good as it once was. Do you remember those classic clashes in years gone by over the New Year period? Office coffee machine conversation and newspaper headlines confirmed the interest and excitement of strength versus strength. These days, not only is a big performance less viable for the player but importantly less representative for the selectors.

Previously, our provincial cricket was one of the best in the world but recently a lot has changed and now the alarm bells are ringing and this is being reflected at international level. With the current provincial program, average players are living in a fool’s paradise.

My answer is to immediately revert to a vibrant competition that everyone, be it players, broadcasters, sponsors and selectors benefit from. The beauty of Currie Cup cricket was that young players would succeed against strong opposition, know their worth and progress with that wealth of knowledge and confidence. The Transvaal side of the 80’s for example, had 10 Test standard players. Make runs or take wickets against them and you knew you could play.

Can that be said of today? The opportunity for a successful youngster to leap from there to international standard was there, (admittedly against Rebel sides), but his rise to the highest level wasn’t as big a step as it is today. There was no comfort zone and nowhere to hide. You were constantly being tested physically, mentally and emotionally. It was a real baptism of fire.

These days you can play the whole season and never be tested by the best batsmen or the best and meanest fast bowlers. Our provincial cricket must be more meaningful and streamlined.

The best possible re-structure of first-class standard cricket revolves around full-strength teams.

Six quality provincial teams competing at the highest level week in week out is the only answer.