Former South African captain Graeme Smith made a plea to the skippers and players in the domestic game this week: “It is important for the franchises to set the standard (of play) for the season,” he said.
The World Cup looms large on the cricket horizon this summer, and Smith’s call was made with that tournament very much in mind.
It’s been a funny start to the season for the franchises; the bizarre nature of the modern game means two teams, the Cape Cobras and the Dolphins already have one tournament under their belts – unfortunately they produced some dismal performances in the Champions League T20 in India, winning just one match from a combined total of eight.
Meanwhile, of the remaining four sides it is the Free State franchise, the Knights, that have made a storming start in the Sunfoil Series four-day competition recovering from being 32/8 on the first morning to smash the Warriors by 128 runs in the opening week, before pulling off a similar trick against the Lions in Potchefstroom last week, by coming back from a first innings deficit of 101 to win by 134 runs.
Even the Knights’ captain Werner Coetsee expressed surprise at his side’s start. “It does a lot for self-confidence. It’s not easy winning four day games so it’s been a really pleasing start,” said Coetsee.
The Knights don’t carry many household names; they lost their two nationally contracted players – Dean Elgar (to the Titans) and Ryan McLaren (to the Dolphins) – in the off-season, and not many were predicting much success for them this summer.
Another of their major players, Rilee Rossouw, has been included in the national one-day side and having already been absent from their second Sunfoil Series match last week – after his wife gave birth to the couple’s first child – Rossouw is likely to play just this weekend’s match against the Cobras, before heading Down Under with the South African squad.
“Losing someone like Rilee, is massive,” Coetsee remarked. “But it’s something we want to do, create Proteas, we want guys playing for South Africa. The more we can get rid of those guys, get them playing for South Africa, the better for the next guy, who gets his chance to replace him.”
The Knights have relied on the likes of Rudi Second and Gihahn Cloete with the bat and Coetsee and the young fast bowler Corné Dry with the ball to provide success.
The Cobras meanwhile, who can usually field a star-studded line-up regardless of whether their national players are present, are sweating on a few injuries; Justin Kemp and Justin Ontong are in a race against time to be fit for Saturday’s clash in Kimberley while Dane Piedt is a long term casualty having to undergo surgery on the shoulder in injured in the Champions League T20.
The Momentum One-Day Cup starts tomorrow with the Titans taking on the Dolphins in Centurion. - The Star