'Plank' & 'Ricks'

Proteas in IPL face quite the choice

It is probably only a matter of time before cricket-playing nations outside of India and Pakistan are obliged to pick a side. In the years to come it may no longer suffice to be subservient, acquiescent and even obsequious to the financial power of India’s BCCI. Sooner rather than later it will become quite clear: ‘If you’re not with us, you’re against us.’

Cricket playing nations which are perceived to be a little too close to Pakistan and the PCB will see bilateral series from India reduced in game time and frequency, if not cancelled. The Indian government and the BCCI, which is effectively a department of it, have the financial clout to marginalise their cross-border foe.

When the PCB announced last week that it would continue and complete the remaining eight games in the PSL in Dubai, the Emirates Cricket Board discreetly revoked their invitation having initially agreed to be hosts – at a lavish fee. It was clear that the BCCI would not tolerate its neighbours completing their tournament while the IPL was in limbo. The Emirates Cricket Board was reminded of its ‘special’ relationship with the BCCI.

The Emirates Cricket Board is not alone. The England Cricket Board, the other ECB, is only a little less in the BCCI’s thrall. The Hundred has been desperate for ‘big name’ overseas signings for the last three years but, of the 50+ Pakistani cricketers to enter this season’s auction, precisely none were signed by any of the eight teams. Naturally there are no Pakistani players in the IPL or its subsidiary, the SA20. The more the IPL influence spreads - Caribbean Premier League and Major League Cricket in the USA – the more marginalised the Pakistan Cricket Board and its players will become.

Cricket South Africa, meanwhile, is closer in status to the smaller ECB as has become clear in the aftermath of the IPL’s extension from a May 25 final to one now on June 3. Even Cricket Australia said it would “fully support” their players’ decision on whether to return to India for the competition’s resumption.

Captain Pat Cummins has confirmed he will complete his duties as leader of the Sunrisers Hyderabad but they have been eliminated from Play-Off contention giving him plenty of time before the WTC Test match at Lord’s on June 11.

It is important to understand that “fully support” means financial as well as “agreeing with.” If an Australian player in the WTC squad opts not to return to the IPL they will be compensated for their national loyalty.

Cricket South Africa, however, do not have those means. Proteas coach, Shukri Conrad, said: “The initial agreement with the IPL/BCCI, with the final being on the 25^th, is that the players would return home on the 26^th. Nothing has changed from that perspective and that is the ongoing conversation. As it stands, we want our players back on the 26^th.” Note “ongoing conversation” and “as it stands.”

CSA Director of Cricket, Enoch Nkwe, initially said: “It is an individual decision, obviously, to return or continue to play in the IPL. But one thing we’ve made clear, and we are finalising it with the IPL and the BCCI, is that we are sticking to our original plan when it comes to WTC preparations with May 26 being the latest for the Test guys to come back.”

A little later he ‘mellowed’. “Correction – the squad will resume training for the game on June 3rd. The matter is being discussed higher up than me. At ground level, we are focusing on preps for the WTC final.”

There are no less than eight members of the Proteas WTC squad involved in the IPL of whom five are playing for teams with a strong likelihood of being involved in the Play-Offs.

Ryan Rickelton and Corbin Bosch (Mumbai Indians), Wiaan Mulder (SunRisers Hyderabad), Marco Jansen (Punjab Kings), Aiden Markram (Lucknow Super Giants), Lungi Ngidi (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Kagiso Rabada (Gujarat Titans), and Tristan Stubbs (Delhi Capitals) are the eight players who are in the squad for the WTC final.

They have, effectively, been left to make their own decisions with Conrad making it clear that his tenure as national all-formats coach would be characterised by loyalty to players who are loyal to their country – and the IPL franchises piling on the pressure for loyalty to the highest pay master. They are in a deeply invidious position, not to mention financially compromised.

The Proteas are/were scheduled to gather in London on May31 before playing Zimbabwe in a 4-day warm-up match in picturesque Arundel from June 3-6 before focussing on intra-squad training and middle practise. The likelihood is that those dates will have to be compromised, at least for a handful of the squad.

Take two examples: Marco Jansen, the most exciting young all-rounder in world cricket and an ever-present in the Punjab Kings XI who have never won the IPL or even reached the Play-Offs for over a decade. The pressure on him to stay for the Play-Offs can only be imagined. And Ryan Rickelton, establishing himself as an ever-present in the royal household of the Mumbai Indians at the age of 28 in his first IPL season. Could either of them really be expected to leave with an IPL final potentially three matches away?

For all the prestige of the WTC final at Lord’s, it is still just one match. Would any player seriously jeopardise R50m, R70m…even R100m in future earnings for the glamour of playing a one-off match in a format their country plays a dozen times every two years?