StephenZA
Hall of Fame Member
I`m going to start with what Steyn actually said...
So this entire article implies things that are not true, then quote Steyn`s as saying something that is not contradictory to anything coming from the SA camp... So where has he disagreed with AB and Co??
Second, the article by Brettig is myopic and illogical.
Firstly, it was not Aus that broke any boundaries in coming to play in SA in the early 90`s. India where the first to play international cricket, both inside and outside SA against SA. SA played a WC in Aus before Aus even came to SA. Yes political tensions where still high but Aus where not really breaking new ground but continuing on from where India had started... His reason for saying this is that he wants to show how forward thinking and risk taking Aus are, then contradicts himself by saying that all cricketers are conservative and even the Aus players are reluctant to play in the D/N tests "The Test teams of Australia and New Zealand, of course, did not consent to last year's inaugural day-night fixture until Cricket Australia had tipped in $1 million extra cash, paid in a 60/40 split that looked suspiciously like appearance money." The SA team is a more conservative team than the Aus team when playing cricket, this is true; but this has nothing to do with the current discussion or with the reluctance to play D/N test cricket match in what could be an important test. A test series that SA have won the last 2 of in Aus (then lost in SA
), by not playing conservative cricket all the time!!
But ultimately Brettig`s argument is that by playing this D/N test in Adelaide it will open up the game in SA (and possibly elsewhere)???? I call bull**** on that one... If SA board wants to start playing D/N Tests and use this to grow the game in SA, they need to ensure that the big grounds in SA (Wanderers, Newlands, Centurion) have the facilities (specifically the lights) and start by playing domestic franchise cricket at night. Maybe I will actually get a chance to go watch some of those matches... would love that. He quotes Rod Marsh as effectively saying how can cricket in SA be struggling when we are one of the top teams, SA needs to sort that out as we will not always be a top team. This is a much more deep rooted problem and will not be solved by playing a single D/N test in Aus, and he is being disingenuous to imply this. And from Rob Marsh`s statement the truth can be seen that it is easiest to grow a game when the national side is winning. Going to Aus and playing a game at a potential disadvantage does not help SA cricket win in anyway.
Brettig goes through a lot of different all over the place arguments; the good of the greater game, the good for SA cricket he even talks about the potential advantage SA will have with Morkel and Steyn swinging the pink ball at night but ultimately none of these arguments resolve the potential disadvantage to SA, the reluctance by many of the players (including Aus) to play in conditions that are not suitable yet, or stand-up to real scrutiny to solve some real problems in SA or world cricket... Who is going to really win from all this; the spectators in Adelaide (potentially if the game is good and not a 3 day blow-out) and the Australian cricket board coffers... this particular argument is about money nothing else at this stage.
I want D/N test cricket to become a thing as I think it will be great for the game but lets do it properly. And I would love to read a real article on D/N tests issues and problems and potential solutions that is not using illogical fallacies to try bully and pressurize players into playing in something they don`t necessarily want..
Well lets look at that statement:
From the underlined, poor journalism has implicitly implied that SA don't want D/N tests at all. Nowhere have AB and Co or the SA cricket board stated they do not want to play D/N tests. They are reluctant to play this single D/N in Aus with little or no preparation, in what could be a deciding game. Steyn is then quoted that he would love to play a D/N tests sometime in his career.(No contradiction here with other SA players/board) But is later then quoted as stating the exact complaint/worry that both the SA cricket board and SA players (which includes himself) are having a problem with...
So this entire article implies things that are not true, then quote Steyn`s as saying something that is not contradictory to anything coming from the SA camp... So where has he disagreed with AB and Co??
Second, the article by Brettig is myopic and illogical.
Firstly, it was not Aus that broke any boundaries in coming to play in SA in the early 90`s. India where the first to play international cricket, both inside and outside SA against SA. SA played a WC in Aus before Aus even came to SA. Yes political tensions where still high but Aus where not really breaking new ground but continuing on from where India had started... His reason for saying this is that he wants to show how forward thinking and risk taking Aus are, then contradicts himself by saying that all cricketers are conservative and even the Aus players are reluctant to play in the D/N tests "The Test teams of Australia and New Zealand, of course, did not consent to last year's inaugural day-night fixture until Cricket Australia had tipped in $1 million extra cash, paid in a 60/40 split that looked suspiciously like appearance money." The SA team is a more conservative team than the Aus team when playing cricket, this is true; but this has nothing to do with the current discussion or with the reluctance to play D/N test cricket match in what could be an important test. A test series that SA have won the last 2 of in Aus (then lost in SA
), by not playing conservative cricket all the time!!But ultimately Brettig`s argument is that by playing this D/N test in Adelaide it will open up the game in SA (and possibly elsewhere)???? I call bull**** on that one... If SA board wants to start playing D/N Tests and use this to grow the game in SA, they need to ensure that the big grounds in SA (Wanderers, Newlands, Centurion) have the facilities (specifically the lights) and start by playing domestic franchise cricket at night. Maybe I will actually get a chance to go watch some of those matches... would love that. He quotes Rod Marsh as effectively saying how can cricket in SA be struggling when we are one of the top teams, SA needs to sort that out as we will not always be a top team. This is a much more deep rooted problem and will not be solved by playing a single D/N test in Aus, and he is being disingenuous to imply this. And from Rob Marsh`s statement the truth can be seen that it is easiest to grow a game when the national side is winning. Going to Aus and playing a game at a potential disadvantage does not help SA cricket win in anyway.
Brettig goes through a lot of different all over the place arguments; the good of the greater game, the good for SA cricket he even talks about the potential advantage SA will have with Morkel and Steyn swinging the pink ball at night but ultimately none of these arguments resolve the potential disadvantage to SA, the reluctance by many of the players (including Aus) to play in conditions that are not suitable yet, or stand-up to real scrutiny to solve some real problems in SA or world cricket... Who is going to really win from all this; the spectators in Adelaide (potentially if the game is good and not a 3 day blow-out) and the Australian cricket board coffers... this particular argument is about money nothing else at this stage.
I want D/N test cricket to become a thing as I think it will be great for the game but lets do it properly. And I would love to read a real article on D/N tests issues and problems and potential solutions that is not using illogical fallacies to try bully and pressurize players into playing in something they don`t necessarily want..