Cricket SA drop franchise bombshell on glitzy evening

Kagiso Rabada once again dominated the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Awards dinner in Sandton at the weekend, collecting six awards to duplicate the record-breaking haul he collected in 2016, but the biggest bombshell of the evening came from CSA president Chris Nenzani.

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In the presidential address early in proceedings, Nenzani made the shock announcement that the CSA executive had decided that morning to increase the number of franchises in domestic cricket, from six to an as yet undecided number.

The move, ostensibly to “increase opportunities” for players, has been on the backburner for a couple of years and the current franchise CEOs were in the dark that the proposal was back on the table.

It is sure to be a controversial course of action as there are already question marks over South African domestic cricket’s ability to remain competitive.

This could be a space to watch.

Meanwhile, Rabada, the world’s number one ranked bowler, has just started bowling again after a lower back stress reaction ruled him out of action after the Australian series, but he is looking forward to once more fulfilling his commission as South Africa’s lead strike bowler on the tour to Sri Lanka next month, and through to the World Cup in a year’s time.

“I’m just going to try and build on last season’s success. In terms of my injury, I’m taking it one week at a time and the plan is to be ready for Sri Lanka. It won’t be bad bowling there, but the challenge is always adapting. I’m glad and grateful for these awards because it shows I did something right, but time moves on and now I focus on what lies ahead.

“The World Cup is obviously very prestigious and we all know we haven’t won it, but it’s a process and I don’t want to think too far ahead. We know our focus is there next season, but first we have to take care of what’s at hand and that’s Sri Lanka first. It’s all about small steps,” Rabada said.