Clash between SA20 and Test tours must never happen again, says Smith

While a decision to put the needs of the SA20 league ahead of the national Test team ultimately ensured the second edition of the popular T20 competition was another success, league commissioner Graeme Smith hopes similar sacrifices will never have to be made again.

The SA20 was again well supported in its second season, with fans glued to their seats and TV screens throughout the month-long campaign, which concluded at the weekend with Sunrisers Eastern Cape retaining their title.

The Proteas, however, were forced to travel to New Zealand with a Test squad that featured eight uncapped players in order to allow first-choice stars to turn out for their SA20 teams.

The negative effects of this decision were made evident last week when the second-string national Test side were thumped by New Zealand in the first match at Mount Maunganui.

Smith, a former Proteas captain, said the clash had been discussed with Cricket South Africa (CSA) last year, but a solution had not been found.

“This scheduling issue should never have happened. It’s disappointing and it’s crazy that it happened,” Smith said on Tuesday.

“Unfortunately it is what it is, but I think our Test cricket has been a challenge for a long time performance-wise, and I’d love to see that team strong again and performing well.

“But like everyone, we’re disappointed at what’s happened and we’ve got to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Positive feedback

Though they still needed to sift through reams of data and statistics in order to determine how well the SA20 series did this year compared to last, Smith was pleased with the league’s success.

He was particularly delighted with the quality of cricket on display by South African players, as well as the interest from fans who packed stadiums around the country.

“By all accounts, throughout this season I think we’ve grown and for us I think the season was a success,” Smith said.

“There were a lot of questions building into season two about whether we could recreate or get stronger and I think we’ve done that.

“I think the feedback we’ve received from players, teams and fans has been extremely positive.”