8 Comments

In a dance with the devil, he always leads.

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Great analogy!

But what about the reserve price? Temba has set a much higher reserve price than many other batters. It would be interesting to look at the locals that got selected, their reserve prices, and those that didn't get selected and their reserve prices, and imagine how an alternative auction with different reserve prices might have gone.

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We gave our own T20 platforms for development and transformation . We cannot prescribe to SA20 franchises who to pick. Only 4 overseas players can play in a team. That is the only restriction - as with the IPL. Franchisees are not obliged to select Bavuma or Elgar.

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Dance with the devil and you'll get stung...

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This is what I have been trying to say for months in the form of comments.. Really does the CSA T20 league mean anything if it is not for the people, of the people?

I remember it was a while back, over 10 yrs, we hosted a tournament, FIFA was the guest booking, and it was a fiasco, as someone that has been in broadcasting since the late 1990's, this was a crew disaster, FIFA and their golden crew moved in, and took over, sure there were jobs here and there, but the big gig went to folks earning $, and not locals...

Really if the sport is not available on local free to air channels, then truly I have no interest, but everyone has overloooked the whole concept... The point of sport in 2022 is about marketing BRANDS, sometimes not even brands we know, it is about having the name of that sponsor..

The X or Y 6, or the A or B 4.. Commentators are paid to say this brand or that brand, when a certain event occurs, and by gosh it is so annoying, kind of why I grew sick of IPL, the West Indian version, of any "sport" that has a sponsored name for an action, a goal, a 6, an out.. Too much...

Look the whole thing is just a stadium sized big pile of the product of the bovine digestive system.. it is and really at this point, almost write it off as a life lesson.. I doubt anyone cares.. No one cares that locking the sport behind a paywall is extremely shortsighted, but then I guess this is what happens when you are greedy, you over eat, you forget about the last tummy ache and the almost cardiac event. You just want one more piece of that super delish apple crumble with tin roof ice cream...

Has the locking away behind a paywall prevented the majority of what might have been sports stars been turned away, turned to either a life of crime/grime, or a life of work, either well or not... How can we expect kids today to want to be the next Ntini, if there is no broadcast, no tv, no access to grounds??? Sport has become for the idle rich now, both for watching and being able to be the sport stars... No one cares anymore... NO one...

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I love reading your analyses and usually wholeheartedly agree with your erudite conclusions - however in this piece you label it a “disgrace” that certain players were not bought. The whole point of an open auction is that the bidders and eventual buyers are in a free market where they bid or buy on what they perceive as value. They is minimal influence other than this perceived value , be it real or not. Put simply - the group of unsold players were not seen as of any value to a squad. The fact that Dean Elgar was in the mix for a T20 auction in first place was definitely not on merit. Our white ball Proteas captain has also been rejected . For the record Tembas T20I Average is 26.7 with SR 120% and this mostly as an opener with power play fielding restrictions in place. Just not good enough. As to another Protea stalwart Andile Pehlukwayo T20I Av. 9.9 SR 115.6% and Bowling Average 21.3 Hardly constitutes an International level all-rounder. Sorry Neil - the collective Tribe has spoken

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Reminder to self to look up the definition of "colonialism". At least BnB 'guests' leave after a while.

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Well, guess what? This was only to benefit the IPL and it’s owners so no surprises for me. This whole T20 thing was only designed to complement world cricket not completely destroy it……

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