Officials aiming to relaunch domestic cricket later this month

Only government approval stands in the way of cricket resuming at the end of
the month, and Cricket South Africa is optimistic it will get the go-ahead for a return to action on June 27.

At first only the Proteas would be cleared to play, the federation confirmed, but all the country’s top cricketers were set to be involved in a made-for-TV match at SuperSport Park in Centurion on the last Saturday of June.

With no spectators allowed, a different format featuring three different teams would be trialled and televised live by SuperSport.

“Government has to gazette the level three (national lockdown) regulations and then the minister of sport will go over the return-to-play protocols that we have sent, which he must agree with,” said CSA chief executive Jacques Faul.

“It’s in the hands of the department of sport, arts and culture, but they have been good with us. So hopefully we’ll be playing again at the end of June and we’ll start with the Proteas players, for
obvious reasons.

“It’s going to be a fundraiser with an exciting new format, sadly without
spectators, but SuperSport will be broadcasting it live.”

Dr Shuaib Manjra, CSA’s chief medical officer, said they were confident cricket could safely go ahead under the protocols they had proposed to government.

“First of all, it will be an empty stadium. We’re looking at the minimum
number of people being there for the event to happen and be broadcast, which
is about 200,” Manjra said.

“We will limit the number of team staff, otherwise it will just be the broadcast personnel, officials, players and stadium staff.

“There will also be thorough cleaning of the stadium beforehand.

“The players will get in three days before and be kept in a sanitised eco-system at the hotel, when they travel and at the stadium. We will test the players before they get to Centurion and again five days afterwards in order to get rid of any false negatives.

“On average it takes five days from infection for someone to test positive (for Covid-19). In the stadium, everyone will wear masks and doors will be kept open along with other safety measures.”

While Cricket South Africa was ready to proceed with a return to play, government’s hands were legally tied because of a recent court ruling that said its lockdown regulations were unconstitutional.

Fresh laws therefore need to be gazetted before permission could be granted by sports minister Nathi Mthethwa.

The June 27 match was set to be a major milestone on the path to the Proteas potentially playing international cricket again in August, with India likely to come to South Africa for three T20 matches and a series against the West Indies also scheduled.

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