OPINION: CSA must use SA20 success to fix other structures, competitions

The inaugural SA20 competition came to a thrilling conclusion over the past weekend with the Sunrisers Eastern Cape upsetting the Pretoria Capitals to lift the trophy at the Wanderers.

It was a fitting end to what has been a rip roaring success for Cricket South Africa (CSA), with plenty of international interest garnered, star performances on display and sold out crowds in attendance in the new tournament.

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CSA will thus be riding a big wave at the moment, which has almost washed away the disappointment of the Proteas disastrous T20 World Cup campaign last year.

But CSA has to take advantage of the renewed interest in domestic cricket in the country and use it to improve their other structures.

The SA20 is undoubtedly now their flagship local competition and will be for many years to come, but CSA must improve their existing competitions, if they want to improve the quality of players coming through the system and in effect the Proteas.

Over the past few years it has almost seemed like CSA has neglected the local competitions, in favour of putting all their focus on the national teams, which has led to a steady decline in skills of players coming through the system.

All-time low

Interest in the local competitions is also at an all-time low, with barely any support turning out to watch the CSA Four Day and One Day competitions, while a small crowd is usually in attendance for the T20 comp.

It is thus vitally important that CSA attempts to turn this around and invest in their existing competitions where most of their emerging talent plays.

The regular Four Day, One Day and T20 competitions will never be able to match the SA20, that is a given, but improving the standard of play and driving more interest in those competitions will go a long way to improving the state of CSA, its finances and gaining more trust from the public.

It has been a difficult past few years for CSA, with maladministration almost tearing the association apart and they still have a long way to go before regaining the trust of the public, but the SA20 is a good starting point and improving their existing competitions should be the next item on their agenda.