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The Standard Bank Proteas cricketers have pledged their support for Solo Nqweni by contributing R 50 000 towards his rehabilitation costs.

In July 2019, whilst playing club cricket in Scotland, Nqweni was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre, a rare but serious auto-immune disorder whereby the immune system attacks the nervous system. After five months in intensive care at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary hospital, Solo returned home in January to undergo rehabilitation in Johannesburg.  The cost of rehabilitation is significant and various fund-raising initiatives have been launched to assist Solo.
 
“Through the good and difficult times, players always stand together and this is no different. The decision to stand by Solo, as part of the cricket family was an easy one to make,” commented Proteas Test captain, Faf du Plessis.
 
“On behalf of the Proteas, we would like to wish Solo all the best with his rehabilitation and we hope to see him on the field in the future,” said Quinton de Kock, Proteas ODI captain
 
“We would like to thank Momentum Health, Aberdeenshire Cricket club, the Proteas cricketers and everyone that has offered their support to Solo and his family through this challenging time. We would also like to acknowledge the work of Rob Humphries (Solo’s agent) and JP van Wyk (SACA Player Services Manager) in assisting Solo over the past seven months.  SACA remains committed to continuing our support of Solo going forward” said SACA chief executive officer, Andrew Breetzke.

The end of an era spanning 17 years, Tony Irish departs from his position as the founding father of the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA). SACA was born out of a vision that sought to promote and protect the interest of players in South Africa. Over the years, SACA has evolved into a business with the sole purpose of enhancing player welfare.

SACA is an organisation with a lean staff composition working tirelessly to service and lead the way in the welfare of emerging and professional cricketers. The flagship service available to all contracted players is the SACA Player Plus programme which embodies what it means to be a modern-day professional cricketer.

SACA, under the watchful eye of Irish, has provided the necessary resources to ensure players focus on developing and achieving their life goals on and off the field. SACA’s commercial programme has enhanced player earnings potential and is always the highlight of every cricketer’s year. SACA has also maintained and negotiated an MOU, which comprehensively regulates player matters (i.e. player contracts, benefits and disputes, safety & security, etc.). I highlight the above because this is what Tony Irish has spent the better part of two decades building, developing and mastering to ensure that the interests of players in South Africa are protected and promoted.

He leaves a formidable legacy, not only for South African cricket but across various international player associations and sporting federations. Federations can take a page out of Tony’s book on how to protect the essence of not only the players’ rights but the game as a whole. Irish has always lead SACA with the players’ interest at the centre of cricket as an asset of the game. With this philosophy, any organisation stands a better chance to go further and be more profitable.

His intentions have always had the good of the players and the game at heart. He does not ask of the organisation anything he would not ask of himself. He works relentlessly smart and puts in the hours required and so much more.

I have personally learnt an enormous amount about the complexity and density of cricket administration from Tony. More importantly, the role SACA needs to play in the life of any cricketer. Tony can look back on his achievements in cricket and be enormously proud of all he has contributed to the player group and cricket in South Africa. He can stand tall of the fact that he has built a lean and mean union machines. As cricketers, we can take pride in the being members of one of the best and most modernised unions in the world.

Tony leaves our organisations during turbulent times within cricket. And I know it was not an easy decision for him and his family. I also know that he has won many fights for SACA and the players. He leaves a formidable team that is experienced, committed and cares deeply about the work they do at SACA for the players.

We take this moment to say, thank you, Tony, for all the hard work, many sacrifices and for always fighting the good fight for the players and the game. On behalf of all players in SA, thank for advancing the player cause with integrity, principle and diligence.

Thank you, and we wish you all the best on your new journey!!!

PS: Your heart will forever be green and gold. And as the summer begins against England, I know you will be shouting for the Proteas to win!

Hashim Amla recently retired from international cricket and South African cricket lost its peaceful warrior. Hashim throughout his career became a symbol of peace, humility and nation-building in the game. His religious, spiritual and moral convictions were always on display to be examined by the world. He stood tall and firm and seldom waved from his principles. More importantly, he has a phenomenal record across cricketing formats. Personally, his test batsmanship remains the pinnacle of his excellence as he often demonstrated artistry, intelligence and mental fortitude.

Batting and fielding averages

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I have had the privilege of sharing the field, change room, coffee, dinner and a seat with the great man himself. I remember going to the Championship with him while playing for the Cape Cobras. He was always happy to invite members of the team out for a meal. Who says no to a free lunch with Hashim Amla?

During one of our many dinners in the 2013/2014 season, I felt comfortable enough to share with him the challenges I was facing with the bat. I shared with him my challenge of constantly getting out in the thirties and asked him for guidance on how to overcome this hurdle. He asked what I felt changed when I got to thirty-odd runs? I expressed that thirty signalled to me that I could relax and the hard work of getting in was done.

He paused for a minute before responding by saying get that thought out of your head and to do the same thing that got you from zero to thirty. Moreover, apply the same principle from thirty to sixty and sixty to a hundred. He concluded the discussion by challenging me to focus on batting the whole day in four-day cricket. I accepted the challenge.

That season was my best to date!

Thank you to the mighty Hash for your contribution to my life and my game. I want to take this opportunity on behalf of all the players in South Africa and the world over to say thank you for your contribution to the game of cricket. You have touched many lives in your years of service to South African cricket.

Hashim Amla is the bravest warrior of our generation who wore the plumes of the rare bird and demonstrated leadership and heroism during his cricket career. His authenticity and character will remain the shining light of his immense contribution to the game of cricket. It is for these reasons that he deserves the highest honour awarded to the people of South Africa, through the African National Congress, for his outstanding contribution to the game of cricket: Seaparankwe. 

The 2019 FICA Annual Board meeting took place in London, during the Cricket World Cup and I had the opportunity to attend and participate in the conversations on cricket globally.

FICA’s role as the global players’ representative body is to protect and promote the interests of professional cricketers around the world.

There were numerous topics discussed at the meeting, however, I want to focus on two that have a direct impact on South African cricket. The first being, the battle between traditional and modern cricket landscapes and the second is the impact of free agency on both international cricket and domestic leagues.

There are two competing landscapes within cricket globally. On the one side, there is the traditional model of cricket, comprised of existing international cricket and domestic cricket structures. On the other side, there is the modern landscape consisting of various and increasing number of domestic T20 leagues around the world.

A significant amount of commercial money in the game, namely, TV rights money, is shifting towards domestic T20 leagues and away from traditional cricket markets. Similarly, there is a significant amount of fan interest being generated by domestic T20 leagues. Critically there is a significant number of players are moving or indicating they may wish to move into, the domestic T20 leagues’ landscape.

The gravitational pull to the domestic T20 leagues is driven by the commercial value offered to players and short time commitment relative to earnings, amongst other factors such as workload and scheduling in the traditional cricket landscape. With the addition of T10 cricket and the strong foothold, the IPL has in the market, as well as other new and developing leagues, there has never been more choice for players. Players now have the opportunity to move “horizontally” around the world between short term contracts across several countries, as opposed to moving within the traditional “vertical” pathway from local domestic cricket up towards international cricket.

South African Cricket plays a critical role in the collective eco-system of international cricket. It is imperative that South Africa remains competitive, despite the decline in the commercial value of the traditional landscape. The reason for this is that the traditional model in cricket will soon become a niche market and played between governing bodies that are financially ahead of the rest in international cricket. It is in this market that South Africa will need to become a more active participant in the game and in doing so, attract the likes of India, Australia and England to its shores for 5 Test match series and eventually have a spill-over effect on ODI and T20 cricket.

For South Africa’s domestic and national players, the attraction and benefits of free agency offered in the modern landscape cannot be ignored. There are many factors globally which are driving this, including the game structure and game economics. In South Africa, the trend is exacerbated by two key factors: a volatile currency and an unstable domestic environment.

In terms of free agency in South Africa, forward-thinking suggests, if it is not carefully managed, it will likely wreak havoc in the South African cricket system much as it did in the West Indies when it was in its infancy. New Zealand’s player-centric model remains the best example of how to manage free agency and national duty. Through flexible contracting arrangements, what they have managed to do is to analyse their domestic structure to strike a balance between player earning opportunities whilst ensuring players are committed to and available for national duty when called upon.

Years before the boom of T20 leagues around the world, it was once through stellar performances at a national level that got the attention of leagues to sign players. Nowadays, players are able to showcase their skills to the international market without having represented their country. A perfect example of this in South Africa is Rassie Van der Dussen. Rassie made his mark in the Canadian Premier League, Caribbean Premier League and Mzansi Super League before representing South Africa.

Some players will continue to grow and develop within the traditional model, others will migrate to the modern model and the best will crisscross between landscapes. The challenge for cricket will be in retaining the best players within the traditional model.

As we contemplate the future let us recognize that if we fail to design a suitable and sustainable system for our needs within the global framework; this will be the beginning of the end of Cricket in South Africa as we know it.

South Africa is a country in distress. So many social ills plague our country – stagnant economic growth, high unemployment rate, underperforming sporting codes and an education system in crisis.

At any given time, sport is a microcosm of its own in society. Remember Bafana Bafana winning the AFCON in 1996 and the Springboks winning the Rugby World Cup in 1995. These were moments in our sporting history of hope and opportunity. In 1994, South Africa broke away from the shackles of the past and one could truly say we had entered a new dawn. These sporting moments capture our collective effervescence as a nation to redefine ourselves and share in a better tomorrow.

The current state of sport in South Africa is concerning particularly Bafana Bafana, Springboks and the Proteas. The momentum and energy of development programs of the 1990s seem to have fizzled away. Yet the opportunities available across major sporting codes have increased significantly. I am of the view that the current state of all these teams is interlinked to the underperformance of the economy and the challenges we face as a country. These combined issues have an interesting way of playing out in sports.

It is difficult to point out what happened in the World Cup. As the President of SACA, I firmly believed that we would be competitive and rumble with quiet confidence through the playoffs. What was evident to me and all South African fans was that the team played the out of character.

Cricket South Africa chose the best players to head to England. These 15 players had earned their place in the team however when it mattered most, the team struggled to rise to the occasion. What we saw from the Proteas team resembled the current state of the nation; low in confidence, lack of unity and ultimately a lack of gees needed to turn things around as their crisis deepened game after game.

The 2019 FICA Annual Board meeting took place in London, during the Cricket World Cup and I had the opportunity to attend and participate in the conversations on International Cricket (More detail next blog). The take-home message was that a successful and competitive Proteas team is critical to the eco-system of international cricket. This message is powerful because cricket in South Africa finds itself at a crossroads as SACA and CSA are embroiled in a legal battle about the domestic restructure and financial sustainability of the game.

Irrespective of who wins the legal battle, the most important outcome needs to be in the best interest of the game we all love. A resolution must harvest the best system for cricket and produce transformation excellence and a winning Proteas team. This will allow us to be a global competitor, transformative and financially sustainable.

I’m not one for sharing problems without solutions. What we need in Academics, Sports & Arts and Culture is:

Nationally: Excellent coaching, high-performance focused and a transformed, globally competitive team.

Domestically: A competitive domestic structure that is financially sustainable without government funding. And a structure that promotes excellence from administration to the field.

Youth: The biggest challenge for sport in this country rests in the low levels of participation by the youth.

Sports, Arts and Culture have to be re-integrated in the school curriculum (also known as ‘The Holy Trinity’). If the government can redesign the curriculum in this way the future of the sport in this country is destined to succeed! This has many positive spin-offs namely; crime reduction, drugs and alcohol abuse reduction among the youth and job creation within schools for coaches within Sport, Arts and Culture departments.

The reality is, this model already exists in our country where only those with access to financial assistance are able to enjoy its benefits. The government needs to adopt and support this model for public schools and the rest is history.

South Africa has announced its ICC World Cup squad (team below). Naturally, some players are delighted others understandably disappointed. However, the focus now turns to this group of players who have been tasked with the national responsibility of bringing the World Cup trophy home for the first time.

South Africa’s history at World Cups is gut-wrenching and has always produced moments of the highest drama and occasions never to be forgotten. The most prominent ones must surely be the semi-finals of 1999 in England and 2015 in New Zealand. On both occasion we were so close, yet so far! I guess the most disappointing factor was always that South Africa had entered both competitions as firm contenders, if not outright favourites to win the World Cup. This time around, South Africa enters the 2019 ICC World Cup certainly not as firm favourites and, perhaps, not as settled as before in their build-up to the event.

This unchartered territory for South Africa is a positive for the team. They will have an opportunity to focus solely on their preparation without the external pressure of expectation. That is certainly my wish; after all, the South African public sets such high expectations for all their teams. Naturally, the public will, once again, be expecting South Africa to win the competition, in which case we should not be surprised when the ‘chokers tag’ rears its ugly head as a tactical ploy by the opposition to impose themselves on the Proteas.

This will always be a mental hurdle for the Proteas team to overcome if they are to make history and win the tournament for the first time.  In order to overcome the label, the team will have to rumble with vulnerability. This means, according to renowned Research Professor Brene Brown, “having the courage to show up fully when you can’t control the outcome.” It is about being vulnerable in their relationships as teammates on a daily basis which means sharing their excitement and fears openly together. In fact, we, the public, will also rumble with vulnerability, with and for the team.

One of our great assets going into this World Cup is that South Africa has a courageous leader in Faf du Plessis.  He lives the values of #Proteafire and is never silent about the hard things. He is the kind of leader who is willing to step up, put himself ‘out there’ and be courageous. Brene Brown argues that “the greatest barrier to courageous leadership is not fear – it is how we respond to our fear.” Together with his leadership group, Du Plessis embodies a collective sense of calm and determination to cultivate a culture in which brave work, tough conversations, and whole-hearts are expected. Moreover, he is tactically shrewd and strategically on par with the best in the world.

The environment cultivated by his leadership will unleash the likes of, Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Andile Phehlukwayo and the rest of the Proteas because they will feel safe, seen, heard, and respected. This team has a wonderful mixture of youth and experience which, I believe, will provide a competitive advantage during the tournament. The Proteas is an iconic brand around the world and we know the team will be exemplary compatriots in England.

On behalf of the players, SACA, and myself as the President of the Association, I want to take this opportunity to wish the Proteas well in their quest for gold, may they rumble to World Cup victory.

World Cup Squad: Faf du Plessis (C); Quinton de Kock (Wk); Hashim Amla; Aiden Markram; Rassie van der Dussen; David Miller; JP Duminy; Dwaine Pretorius; Dale Steyn; Kagiso Rabada; Lungi Ngidi; Chris Morris; Andile Phehlukwayo; Imran Tahir; Tabraiz Shamsi

The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) responds to yesterday’s release of the men’s Future Tours Programme 2018 – 2023 (FTP).

“It is a positive that this FTP is structured to fit with the introduction of a nine team World Test Championship and a 13 team ODI League,” said FICA’s Executive Chairman, Tony Irish. “It is hoped that the World Test Championship and the ODI League will introduce much needed context into international cricket.”

“We think that the scheduling of the ODI League represents a significant step forward because it reflects that the global competition can only consist of three matches per series, which makes it simple for fans to follow and cuts out meaningless ODI matches. We continue however to urge the ICC to develop a clear pathway for smaller and associate countries to participate in this League.”

“The World Test Championship does not have the same degree of consistency in the scheduling and different series constitute different numbers of matches depending on who is playing, which will make any points system a challenge to follow. Whilst it’s an improvement on what currently exists, and the culmination in a Test final every two years does add context, time will tell how effective this will be as a global competition scheduled in this way.”

FICA notes that the FTP does not formally recognise domestic T20 leagues or provide for any international cricket windows. “One of the global game’s current challenges lies in the tension between the traditional international cricket landscape and the T20 leagues landscape,” said Irish. “This problem can’t be solved by simply restricting players from playing in T20 leagues and FICA will continue to oppose any attempts to unfairly regulate or to restrict players if used as a means of attempting to solve inherent imbalances in the structure of the game.”

“So whilst this FTP is definitely a step in the right direction, we are hoping that it will be viewed as a first wave of reform in the global game” concluded Irish.