DURBAN: Four washouts in 17 games, thanks to unseasonal rain. The 18th SA20 clash between Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Durban’s Super Giants was also delayed at Kingsmead, Durban on Friday evening. It has been that kind of a season for the league. A December start for the first time because of the international window, which the league commissioner — Graeme Smith — calls an ‘anomaly’ meant there have been some uncontrollable factors.
Having said that, the first two weeks have shown significant rise in crowd, viewership and engagement, says Smith. He believes that the SA20 is carving a place for itself in the global cricketing landscape while having a positive influence not just on the South African cricketing economy but also impacting social status, bringing together and developing communities. The former Proteas captain also confirmed that there will be a serious discussion on how to bring in a women’s league after the ongoing season during a select media interaction on Friday. Excerpts…
On rain impact and positives
We have seen growth in the first two weeks. Viewership, crowd attendance, atmosphere, and cricket have been good. Unfortunately, you can't always predict these things, and when these unseasonal types of fronts come through certain parts of South Africa, it's a challenge, especially when you have got a game a day and you're moving around the country. But I think right now we've just got to stay positive. There's a lot of cricket still left to be played. We're only halfway really in the season, and the tension and the atmosphere, and I can just feel in the minds of people who are talking, wanting to come to games. Even with one or two rained-out games, watching how the crowds haven't left, it shows you that the product, I think, has really stepped up another level this year.
On metrics for growth of league
Obviously, we're always following metrics. I think for us, ticketing is a big one. We have seen a big increase in ticketing. I think we've four more sold-out games already than we were at the same point last year. You know, over 27 or 28% increase in ticketing in the first half of the season. Viewership is up in India, viewership is up here, and digital growth is up. The other metric that's important for me always has to be cricket. I think the pitches have been slightly better on a consistent level than they were last year. We've seen closer games, super overs, hundreds, hat-tricks, a number of last-over finishes. I think the quality of cricket has been excellent this year.
On social impact of SA20
I think the most important thing is that we're also delivering money back to Cricket South Africa, which flows into growing the game. We, as SA20, have invested in our own development programmes as well. So we have SA20 schools, which are girls and boys in our over 700 schools. From an economic perspective, last year we brought over 4 billion ZAR to the economy, creating 8,500 jobs. So those are some really great metrics in a very young product.
I think credit to our franchises that have really got behind the youth programme that we've tried to the rookies and now in the U23. IPL franchises are good at attracting youth and backing them. I was looking at it the other day. The player salaries will probably be close to a billion ZAR if you take it over the 10-year period. And that's a huge, huge uplift in the South African cricket ecosystem for players. I think now, as a youngster coming through, the cricket dream from a job perspective is looking highly strong.
On things to improve going forward
I think we would love to see the pool of South African players get bigger. Now we're starting to see across the six teams that the South African group of players are getting really strong. If you want to start adding more teams and stuff in the future, you need to start looking at another 20, 25 high-quality players that make sure when we add new franchises, that there's enough depth to make sure that the league remains equally competitive. For us, commercially, we're having our strongest year. We're seeing corporate South Africa get behind us, global broadcasters as well. I think it's about now, just making sure you go from strength to strength.
On a potential women’s league
I really do (think it is on the horizon). I've said over the last few years, Cricket South Africa started a domestic women's programme, I think it was two years ago. We've invested in the schools, trying to grow the depth of the women's game here. How it starts, I'm not sure yet. The Cricket South Africa CEO has come out and said that it's time now. I think post this tournament, we will all sit down and figure out what that step looks like. But absolutely, it will be one of the major discussions post season four.
On SA20 becoming platform for players to make national selection
I think if you want to push for a place in the South African team and you're not in the kind of first 15 or 16 names, this is the platform to do it. If you take the IPL, I think last year we had 17 or 18 players from South Africa. That's the most international. I think it's because of the platform of SA20. If you're a young player like Nqobani Mokoena or whoever that you've been talking about, no one knew about them until a few games ago.
Now there's these opportunities for players to put their name in the global hat. When I was playing, you had to play for South Africa to be seen. Domestic cricket never got noticed around the world. Now you've got a product that everyone globally is looking at and saying, oh, there's some real talent around. I think if you want to push for places, this is the tournament to do it.
