Crash Test Dummies and...

What fun SA and Afghanistan had!!

Rubber-necking and gawking at man-made disasters has long been an unfortunate human characteristic. Public hangings used to attract huge crowds in centuries gone by and it’s the main reason traffic slows to a crawl long after an accident has been cleared to the side of the road.

There is an element of that in watching the slow but inevitable demise of bilateral cricket although, some of us have the excuse that we are paid to watch and record its awkward death. Injuries and amputations to the international bilateral calendar are so inevitable that it is possible to accurately forecast them many months in advance.

Almost a year ago the SA20 announced its dates for the next three editions of the tournament, starting with this years recently concluded tournament which started on Boxing Day in the absence of any Test cricket. Next year’s event will start on January 9, just two days after the New Year Test match against England. Or will it?

Given that the Future Tours Programme has South Africa hosting three ODIs and three T20Is against England in January, I asked SA20 Commissioner, Graeme Smith, what would happen to those fixtures. He replied: “We always try to work closely with Cricket South Africa to resolve any scheduling issues in what is a very busy calendar.” In other words, ‘it’s their problem.’

CSA have had a long, long time to find a solution. They asked the ECB if they wouldn’t mind coming back in February to play those games, once the SA20 is finished. They said: ‘Sorry, we’re busy in February.’ This information came from the ECB, not from CSA. Asked once again this week whether there had been any resolution, an ECB spokesman said: “The ball is still in CSA’s court, so to speak. We’re still waiting.”

One option is for CSA to insult England by selecting a ‘C’ team for the series, as they did with New Zealand two years ago. Thankfully, that possibility has been ruled out. The ECB spokesman said emphatically that England would ‘not even consider being involved in something like that.’ The ICC, for what they (and their Constitution) are worth, could also take action against CSA. Teams are obliged to select their ‘strongest available team’ for full international fixtures.

Fairly or not, the SA20 suffered some reputation damage when CSA was forced to send a squad of leftovers to New Zealand where they lost a Test series to the Black Caps for the first time, and they don’t want to be ‘blamed’ again. One of the key figures at the SA20 indicated this week that the start of next year’s tournament ‘could, theoretically, be delayed by a few days.’

If that happened, and the New Year Test at Newlands is brought forward by a day to January 2^nd, there would still be only five days or so between the end of the Test and the start of the SA20. Enough to play three international matches? Not according to the playing terms agreed by the WCA and the ICC which stipulate designated periods of rest between ODIs to protest the health and wellbeing of the players.

Both South African and England would rather play ODIs than T20Is in a World Cup year so the T20I series has no chance of surviving. Indefinite postponement is the best it can hope for, but cancellation is more likely. And if the ODI series is played, it will require lubricant at each end to squeeze it in.

The six SA20 venues will not, however, be available as they are handed over to the Franchises seven days before the tournament begins. And it takes at least a week to strip the stadia of most of their branding and dress them in their tournament livery. Which might have been good news for the Mangaung and Diamond Ovals if Bloemfontein and Kimberley weren’t so difficult to access. Same with Buffalo Park. Benoni and Potchefstroom would be the likely venues.

It will take an enormous effort to stage three ODIs in the tiniest of windows (SA20 will not contemplate any ‘overlap’) and there will have to be an unflinching collective will from players and administrators. Compromises will have to be made which is appropriate really, because that is what ‘meaningless’ bilateral cricket is going to experience until it is dead, killed by Franchise cricket and ICC events.

There have been four T20 World Cups in the last four and a half years and there will be two more before the decade is over. Bilateral series without jeopardy were always just ‘content’ over purpose, money through the till to pay the bills. T20 World Cups can be described in the same way, now that there are so many of them. But it’s much easier to pretend they mean something.

+I’ve lost a handful of my much loved and cherished ‘paid subscribers’ over the last 10 days which is unbelievably careless of me. It’s an editorial bereavement. I must be more careful and take more responsibility. If you left of your own accord, many thanks for your support – it was appreciated! If anybody feels inclined to join the family for just the price of one coffee (£4) per month, I’ll be there personally to welcome you.