SA20 League looking for 25-35 players who will make job of selectors very difficult: Graeme Smith

The former South Africa captain, now commissioner of SA20, cited the Indian Premier League’s success in unearthing talent and creating a pool of players which can perform at the highest level.

Published : Dec 02, 2022 20:27 IST , MUMBAI

Former India cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Anil Kumble with former South Africa cricketers Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher during a press conference of the upcoming South Africa T20 cricket league ‘SA20’ in Mumbai on Friday.
Former India cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Anil Kumble with former South Africa cricketers Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher during a press conference of the upcoming South Africa T20 cricket league ‘SA20’ in Mumbai on Friday. | Photo Credit: PTI
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Former India cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Anil Kumble with former South Africa cricketers Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher during a press conference of the upcoming South Africa T20 cricket league ‘SA20’ in Mumbai on Friday. | Photo Credit: PTI

South Africa had a bright chance of qualifying for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in Australia. The Temba Bavuma-led side had to just win its last group-league fixture against Netherlands to seal a last-four berth, but at the Adelaide Oval, the associate team shocked the Proteas and knocked them out of the tournament.

It’s almost been a month since, but the South African cricketing fraternity is yet to come to terms with it.

“I actually thought that we had a strong team in this World Cup playing in Australia, I thought we had a good chance. But obviously disappointed with the way we finished,” former South Africa captain Graeme Smith said on Friday, on the sidelines of a launch event of SA20 League.

“I think what we want to create in this league is that there’s so much talent - hope we can develop that talent to play under pressure on a global stage. I know I keep talking about the IPL (Indian Premier League) but you look at the amount of strong cricketers that have come through in the IPL. (We’re) looking at trying to find 15 players, hopefully there will be 25-35 players in the next couple of years at a level where it makes the selectors’ jobs very, very difficult,” Smith, who is the commissioner of the league, said.

“Those who are used to playing big games, exposed to big games. Unfortunately, South Africa has to deal with these questions all the time until they actually win a tournament. ICC (International Cricket Council) has given them a lot of chances now, every year there’s a tournament. Hopefully over the next couple of years that will change,” he said.

Due to the league, Cricket South Africa (CSA) had to cancel the ODI series against Australia, thus affecting the team’s chances of qualifying directly for the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.

“I think that South Africa’s World Cup qualification was bad because they played bad. I actually feel for Cricket South Africa in many ways, because I know the effort that went in to move those three ODIs to open up a window for the league. The league will have a window free of international cricket in South Africa, like the IPL, for a period every year,” he said, adding that CSA did make an effort to accommodate the three ODIs against Australia in January, but that did not work out. 

“Australia never travels on Boxing Day or New Year’s. England is never away from home in their summer. It’s incredible that South African cricket still has decided that they’ll earn zero revenues this year because they are going to Australia for three Tests. So, I know that they went out of their way with Cricket Australia to find a way to make those three ODIs work, but it’s just wasn’t practical and eventually South African cricket had to make a choice. It was going to start its own league and it needed to give it a chance and make a proper statement that it was going to make a success of it,” the former captain said.

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