One-Day Cup crucial for future Proteas
Stuart Hess says the One-Day Cup is crucial to the development of future Proteas players.
|||Amidst the drama of the Rugby World Cup, the spectacular though lengthy Tour of India by the Proteas and Bafana Bafana boarding their flight late because, shambolically, the players visas weren’t ready, the start of the Momentum One-Day Cup seems like a tiny blip on the South African sporting radar.
However, it is an important blip. The nature of the sporting calendar these days means the start of the country’s premier limited overs competition on Friday will receive little fanfare.
However, it’s a crucial time for one-day cricket in this country – especially for the national side.
Everyone associated with the Proteas acknowledges that the limited overs unit is in transition and so South Africa must look to twist and tinker over the next few years before achieving some modicum of stability when they begin building towards the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England.
The Momentum One-Day Cup, therefore, plays a critical role.
Last season saw the likes of Theunis de Bruyn, Khaya Zondo and Andile Phehlukwayo make an impression.
For De Bruyn and Phehlukwayo, in particular, it’s crucial they start the new competition well and build on what they produced last year.
Zondo has already received an international call-up and alongside Kagiso Rabada is the first of the new breed being given an opportunity to carve an opening at international level.
At the competition’s launch last week it was interesting to note the presence of the entire new panel of selectors, chaired by Linda Zondi.
Those gentlemen know the importance of casting their selection net as wide as possible over the next couple of seasons – a selection policy reiterated by veteran left-arm spinner Robin Petersen.
Among the young players fighting for attention this season will be KwaZulu-Natal speedster Daryn Dupavillon and his teammate at the Dolphins Calvin Savage.
Meanwhile, the Highveld Lions – shorn of so many household names owing to national call-ups – will hope younger players like Bjorn Fortiun and Shaylen Pillay can get up to speed quickly.
This season is a very open competition, not least because it takes a three month break at the end of October before resuming again at the end of January.
The reason for that is to get the (hopefully) lucrative RamSlam T20 Challenge completed in five weeks – allowing a star name like Kevin Pietersen to display his wares – and also to allow the Sunfoil Series four-day competition to run along side the Test series with England in December and January.
Likewise, the concluding half of the Momentum One-Day Cup will run parallel to the five-match ODI series with the English, allowing the selectors – should they wish to be flexible – to pick players who are already in rhythm with that particular format.
The opening match of the Momentum One-Day Cup sees the defending champions the Titans face the Warriors in Centurion, while the Lions open their campaign at The Wanderers on Saturday against last season’s runners-up, the Cape Cobras. - The Star