South african domestic season.

[brockley]

Zander debruyn captain this year for 1 side.
Ian harvey,taibu and blignaut playing for divisional sides as well.
What kolpak players are going to back up this season,klusener well he is captain i think,be interestinmg how paul harris goes.
Any movements this off season

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Namibia will play in the second level this year (in a group with Easterns, Free State, Northerns, North West, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Griqualand West), replacing Zimbabwe U-21. Cricket South Africa got something right there, at least.

Interestingly, they've scheduled the Pro20 thing to coincide with the World Cup, but I suppose the players would be in a training camp for a month after the Pakistan series concludes anyway.

 

[Langeveldt]

I guess Zander de Bruyn willl be captaining the titans

Ian Harvey and Tatenda Taibu probably gunning it for the "Whatever the Western Cape are now called"

Klusener will be playing for the "My memory of SA franchise gay names has totally escaped me" side

Under the guidance of Robbie P, my home side the Warriors will probably settle for bottom spot.. At least they have some expertise floating around as Gary Kirsten is their batting coach..

Look out for the Eagles (Free State) this year.. I rate them..

Good to see Namibia have something to do and are competing in our competition, good luck to them

 

[brockley]

Zimbabwe are rebooting their domestic competition this year but without their former domestic sides.
Should be a good experience for namibia.
Will be interested how paul harris does compared to the other spinners in south africa,robin peterson and boje just don't cut it for me.

 

[Langeveldt]

The SA spin cupboard might be fairly bare, but I can name five SA spinners better than Peterson off the top of my head (Adams, Boje, Johan Botha, Ant Botha Tshabalala and Smith)

 

[open365]

How does domestic cricket in south africa work?like, how many sides are there?and what comps do they play in?

 

[Goughy]

How does domestic cricket in south africa work?like, how many sides are there?and what comps do they play in?

Cant be bothered to look it up yourself?

There are 6 franchises in top level SA cricket.
Dolphins
Eagles
Lions
Titans
Warriors
Cobras

They represent regions with some of the 'old' provincial sides coming together to make stronger teams. It is based on the principle of 'Strength versus Strength' but still has the quota system and a number of cricketers have lost their jobs due to the contraction of the number of teams and there are now far fewer oppotunities. The outcome is a decent standard of cricket and a flood of players to the UK, NZ etc as there are far less chances and positions than there used to be.

The 6 franchises play in 3 competitions. SuperSport Series (The FC Comp), The renamed, MTN Domestic Championship (OD Cricket) and the Standard Bank Pro20 Series (20/20).

When people talk about SA domestic cricket this is what they are refering to.

Below this level (effectively 2nd team cricket) is, the still FC status comp, SAA Provincial Challenge in which the provinces compete and in which Namibia will play. The teams are usually called the Province "Amateurs" and are made up of young guys trying to break into the Franchise team, club cricketers on the fringes of the pro game and University students. Its a good standard of cricket but is no where near professional enough or deserving of FC status. This level also plays a OD comp called the SAA Provincial Cup.

This level, despite its FC status, is virtually unknown in SA apart from the guys that play in it and carries very little prestige and zero press coverage.

Hope this answers your question.

 

[Langeveldt]

So Standard Bank are no longer sponsering the OD cup?

 

[Langeveldt]

To clarify where the franchises play

Warriors - Port Elizabeth, East London
Cobras - Cape Town, Paarl
Eagles - Bloemfontein, Kimberley
Titans - Pretoria
Dolphins - Durban
Lions - Johannesburg

 

[Goughy]

So Standard Bank are no longer sponsering the OD cup?

Seemingly not.

http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2006-07/RSA_LOCAL/

 

[open365]

Cant be bothered to look it up yourself?

There are 6 franchises in top level SA cricket.
Dolphins
Eagles
Lions
Titans
Warriors
Cobras

They represent regions with some of the 'old' provincial sides coming together to make stronger teams. It is based on the principle of 'Strength versus Strength' but still has the quota system and a number of cricketers have lost their jobs due to the contraction of the number of teams and there are now far fewer oppotunities. The outcome is a decent standard of cricket and a flood of players to the UK, NZ etc as there are far less chances and positions than there used to be.

The 6 franchises play in 3 competitions. SuperSport Series (The FC Comp), The renamed, MTN Domestic Championship (OD Cricket) and the Standard Bank Pro20 Series (20/20).

When people talk about SA domestic cricket this is what they are refering to.

Below this level (effectively 2nd team cricket) is, the still FC status comp, SAA Provincial Challenge in which the provinces compete and in which Namibia will play. The teams are usually called the Province "Amateurs" and are made up of young guys trying to break into the Franchise team, club cricketers on the fringes of the pro game and University students. Its a good standard of cricket but is no where near professional enough or deserving of FC status. This level also plays a OD comp called the SAA Provincial Cup.

This level, despite its FC status, is virtually unknown in SA apart from the guys that play in it and carries very little prestige and zero press coverage.

Hope this answers your question.

Thanks Goughy.

It's really weird for me as an English domestic supporter to see that other domestic competitions are so much smaller than ours(in terms of teams i mean).

I know some people over here think there should be a reduction in the amount of county teams, but i think it's much better this way.

Why don't other domestic comps have as many teams as we do? Is it because they have a smaller population? Or that they're not getting enough quality players though coaching systems and academies? Or do they just not have the money? Or do they think it's better?

 

[Goughy]

Thanks Goughy.

It's really weird for me as an English domestic supporter to see that other domestic competitions are so much smaller than ours(in terms of teams i mean).

I know some people over here think there should be a reduction in the amount of county teams, but i think it's much better this way.

Why don't other domestic comps have as many teams as we do? Is it because they have a smaller population? Or that they're not getting enough quality players though coaching systems and academies? Or do they just not have the money? Or do they think it's better?

A combination of history, finances and geography.

The CC was up and running from 1890. If it were to be starting now, there is no doubt it would be designed differently but it works pretty well and there is little need to change it and go against all that history.

Cricket in England has always done ok financially (apart from a few dark decades) with a number of influencial backers and has had the resources to pay professionals from the early days. Other countries have always found it more difficult to employ large numbers of full-time pro cricketers.

The UK is a pretty small place and travel is short (though in the pre-motorway days it was a pain) compared to more vast and less densely populated places. This brings the expense of travelling to away games down and allows for many more games to be played as less time is spent 'on the road'. For example, IIRC, Western Aus had to pay the travel expenses of other visiting Austalian teams for a number of years as a condition of entering the FC comp. The other states were not willing to travel that distance and take that amount of time, and incur those expenses. Therefore, on order to play, W. Aus had to pay a lot of money out of their own pocket in order to make it happen.

So as I said in the beginning, its a combination of the 3 factors of history, finances and geography.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

The SA spin cupboard might be fairly bare, but I can name five SA spinners better than Peterson off the top of my head (Adams, Boje, Johan Botha, Ant Botha Tshabalala and Smith)

Could you add Paul Harris to that list? He's had a bit of success for Warwickshire this season.

Is Botha still allowed to bowl in domestic cricket?

 

[Goughy]

Could you add Paul Harris to that list? He's had a bit of success for Warwickshire this season.

Is Botha still allowed to bowl in domestic cricket?

Harris was also the leading wickettaker in the Supersport Series (SAs main FC Comp) last year

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Harris was also the leading wickettaker in the Supersport Series (SAs main FC Comp) last year

How far does he have to go before he gets a go in Tests then? One decent season could do it. It's not as if the fact he can't really bat is going to limit his chances either, given the depth SA already have in the batting department.

 

[Goughy]

How far does he have to go before he gets a go in Tests then? One decent season could do it. It's not as if the fact he can't really bat is going to limit his chances either, given the depth SA already have in the batting department.

Well its a combination of a few factors.

Firstly, he isnt that highly respected in SA Cricket. What I mean is that he is not a '***y' player that generates fan support and strong feelings. There are not many people pushing for his inclusion. Also, despite last season, he has been pushed hard for his Titans place let alone garnering SA consideration.

SA, like many countries, is obsessed with batting depth and youth. Many potential SA players are not picked as they cant bat. Tshabalala will have to face this as his career progresses. However, where Botha and Tshabalala are ahead of Harris is that they are a few or more years younger.

Skin colour also plays a role as well. Guys like Robin Peterson are lightyears behind him as a bowler but there is certainly the mentality of "Why waste one of our white picks on a guy like Harris when we are not 100% sure of him and he may not stand the test of time"

He is also not the biggest spinner of the ball and there may be doubts of what he could achieve at test level.

NOTE- For those interested in recent developments in the Johan Botha saga.
http://content-www5.cricinfo.com/southafrica/content/story/258928.html
From a week or so ago, but he failed his most recent test so its not looking good.

 

[Langeveldt]

Could you add Paul Harris to that list? He's had a bit of success for Warwickshire this season.

Is Botha still allowed to bowl in domestic cricket?

Ooh yeah, add him as well..

I'd also say Shaun Pollock was a better finger spinner than Peterson

 

[Langeveldt]

Skin colour also plays a role as well. Guys like Robin Peterson are lightyears behind him as a bowler but there is certainly the mentality of "Why waste one of our white picks on a guy like Harris when we are not 100% sure of him and he may not stand the test of time"

Yet guys like Albie Morkel have got the gig now and then? I just think there are some serious loonies knocking around

 

[Goughy]

Yet guys like Albie Morkel have got the gig now and then? I just think there are some serious loonies knocking around

Not in test cricket he didnt. Peterson has played 5 tests and I dont think many people would nominate Harris for ODI cricket.

Albie was seen as a potentially special ODI cricketer and, unlike Harris, he was seen as a '***y' and exciting cricketer. In fact to many he was seen as the second coming of Zulu. Unfair but true.

I can actually see why people clammered for Morkels inclusion in the ODI team. Was he good enough? probably not, but I can see the logic.

Albie was given a chance in ODIs where a lot of guys are given opporunities. The point I was making with Harris mainly related to test cricket where virtually every game and selection is important.

 

[Langeveldt]

Not in test cricket he didnt. Peterson has played 5 tests and I dont think many people would nominate Harris for ODI cricket.

Albie was seen as a potentially special ODI cricketer and, unlike Harris, he was seen as a '***y' and exciting cricketer. In fact to many he was seen as the second coming of Zulu. Unfair but true.

I can actually see why people clammered for Morkels inclusion in the ODI team. Was he good enough? probably not, but I can see the logic.

Albie was given a chance in ODIs where a lot of guys are given opporunities. The point I was making with Harris mainly related to test cricket where virtually every game and selection is important.

Does he bat? I'd have Boje above everyone at the moment, but thats obviously not the general consensus.. Bojjie also brings a fantastic work ethic, he's a good fielder and a very good leader (even though he's at most had the vice captaincy post)