'Our Vision Is To Get Better Every Year': Graeme Smith On SA20’s Next Five-year Plan

Our vision is to get better every year: Graeme Smith on SA20’s next five-year plan (South African cricketers gear up for Season 4 of SA20 league in Mumbai)

South Africa U19:  With SA20 set to enter its fifth season, league commissioner Graeme Smith said his vision for the next five years of the tournament is centred on continuous improvement year after year, while the aim is for strengthening its standing in a busy global franchise T20 world.

In a fast-paced mini-auction held on Wednesday, the six SA20 franchises fine-tuned their set-ups, with the highlight being the acquisition of ex-South Africa U19 players Jason Rowles by Joburg Super Kings for a staggering R 2.9 million, besides veteran Kieron Pollard, who has forever been a part of MI setups worldwide.

A total of 789 players had registered for the recently concluded auction before the list was trimmed down to 156 players. The list comprised 95 South Africans and 61 overseas stars competing for just 19 available slots.

"I think, look, our vision is to get better and better every year. I think firstly you need to be a league of choice and I was really excited just for 19 slots to see how many players put their name on the auction list to be a part of it. So, that shows that players want to be here, want to play in the SA20. I think cricket will always be the number one core of our product. So that's exciting that the players want to be here," Smith told IANS in an interaction facilitated by SA20 post-season five auction.

He also acknowledged that expansion talks of adding new leagues and window extensions were inevitable to discuss as the league grows. "The league has been highly competitive. So, I just want to see it go from strength to strength. Obviously, as we grow, there will always be conversations around when do you add new franchises? How do you add new franchises? How long is the window going to be?

“But I think that you'll take it year by year. I think you'll see the developments of franchise cricket still progress over the next sort of year or two or three. Certainly with this new cycle of the four-year cycle of the FTP, I think there's going to be, you know, developments.

“I think for us, I still believe there'll be kind of four or five high-profile leagues every year. For us, we want to make sure that in the Southern Hemisphere, along with IPL and maybe the Hundred and so on, that we're up there with the top leagues in the world, which we've managed to do for the first five years," added Smith.

Talking about how IPL-owned franchises have adapted to the local ecosystem, Smith said the teams management and scouting networks have got a more profound understanding of the South African system, especially of scouting players in the Under-23 category.

"I think if you look at the squads, there's balance throughout between investing in top international talent and youth. I think the difference is over the four and a half years, and with the coaches' inputs, certainly they've got a better understanding of the system, ability to scout behind the scenes in the South African talent pool system.

"So I think four or five years, the IPL franchises have learned a lot about South Africa, in business and cricket as well. So I think that really does help in terms of the investment into the U23 program. Obviously, the highlight of yesterday's story everyone's talking about is Jason Rowles. I think there's a few players in that U23 category that can prove to be exciting.

"Last year we had Nqobani Mokoena, who really came out of nowhere and had a superb season with the Paarl Royals. So I'm looking forward to see how that goes, to see the opportunities for young players now. I think the growth of franchise cricket is enormous. South Africa last year had the most international players at the IPL - it was over 21.

“So just seeing that South African talent and the opportunity that they've been given every year is super exciting. So, credit to the coaches and the franchises for the scouting behind the scenes. If he gets his opportunity, it will be great to see how he goes," he explained.

Reflecting on the SA20's contribution to the overall revival of South Africa's cricket ecosystem, Smith felt the league had delivered on its mandate of improving standard of the domestic game, reviving interest across the country and bringing back fans to the stadiums, as well as providing greater competitive depth to the national team.

"Just before SA20 started, South African cricket was in a challenging space. I think the national team was struggling. There was a lot of administration issues. I think fans were getting disgruntled with the game.

“So I think, for us, besides lifting the standard of cricket, giving a high profile tournament that players could be a part of and seeing talent grow over the years and get competitive - that obviously benefits the national team's performance.

"But I think we really wanted to bring fans back to the game in South Africa and introduce new fans. Last year walking around the stadium, the amount of people that I've met in stadium that are coming to cricket for the first time and the growth of the fan base, and the support for our game certainly is one of the key goals that we wanted to achieve.

“So I think, for us, besides lifting the standard of cricket, giving a high profile tournament that players could be a part of and seeing talent grow over the years and get competitive - that obviously benefits the national team's performance.

Article Source: IANS