Last week I wrote an article about the shortage of black players in the SA20 cricket league. The article didn’t point fingers at anyone; it simply made an observation that was hard for anyone with a keen eye on cricket to miss.
I did anticipate some pushback, but the article attracted more than 1,000 comments when it was posted on Facebook — mostly comments from people who, based on what they took issue with, didn’t bother to read further than the headline.
Another section — partially spurred on by the divisive South African musician The Kiffness, who drew his radical supporters to the post — asked why the race of the players mattered at all.
The musician’s interpretation of the article was explained in his comment: “Translation: if you are a white cricketer who’s worked hard to be selected on merit, you are the problem.”
This is a straw man fallacy by someone attempting to spark outrage from his cronies.
In the context of South Africa and its history, race will always be important. The demographic of a sector, cricket in this instance, is a rough indicator of how far said sector has progressed beyond the legacy of apartheid.
South Africa’s population of 60 million is around 80% black, 8% coloured and 7% white. If there are no black cricketers on a field in a franchise cricket match in South Africa, there is a problem.
Moving forward
Moving forward and building an inclusive future requires embracing the challenges of a difficult situation instead of shutting one’s eyes to it and screaming at the person gently trying to open them.
The perfect precedent for this was set by South Africa’s most successful sports team, the Springboks.
The Springboks and head coach Rassie Erasmus, from the start of his tenure in 2018, have openly embraced transformation instead of dancing around the subject like so many sports teams have done in the past.
Since then, the Springboks have lifted two rugby World Cups and are targeting a third under Erasmus’ tutelage. But more importantly, they have largely successfully united a nation whenever they take to the field.
Their slogan, “Stronger Together”, has become part of their identity, uniting people from different spheres of life behind the team.
That’s not to say that the Springboks’ recent success lies in embracing transformation, but their transparency on the subject — as well as being perennial winners — has made them a team the nation wants to support.
Developing talent
South Africa is the most unequal country in the world. Its economic inequalities run along racial lines because of apartheid and its legacy.
The barriers for entry in top-level rugby and soccer are a lot lower than in cricket, which is why so many athletes with raw talent and a strong work ethic who are brought up in the depths of poverty become superstars in the aforementioned two sports.
Springbok wing Makazole Mapimpi, who hails from Tsholomnqa, a village in the Eastern Cape, and who was part of a professional rugby team for the first time at the age of 24, is an example of this.
In cricket, while talent and hard work are important, without quality coaching from an early age, particularly for batting, there is a close to zero chance of a player becoming good enough to play professionally.
This is a big reason why, despite South Africa being welcomed into international cricket 34 years ago, only four specialist black batters, across all formats, have represented the country: Loots Bosman, Temba Bavuma, Khaya Zondo and Tony de Zorzi.
Outside of coaching, facilities and equipment are another barrier young cricketers have to battle past. An entire cricket kit, from spikes to a helmet, can cost more than R20,000 while a professional-level cricket bat alone costs more than R10,000.
It’s why cricketers such as Bavuma and JP Duminy have started foundations to give young, underprivileged cricketers access to quality coaching, facilities and equipment.
The conduits to being selected to play for South Africa are the country’s elite cricket schools.
In South Africa’s last Test match, against Pakistan at Newlands earlier this month, every player had attended one of those schools. Four members of the playing XI — Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Kagiso Rabada and Kwena Maphaka — attended the same high school, St Stithians College.
The fees at private schools such as St Stithians are nearly impossible for most South Africans to afford without scholarships or bursaries. The fact that South Africa’s inequality is skewed against black South Africans means their chances of attending this school are slimmer than their white counterparts, despite 50% of the national team alumni being black.
SA20 focus
My previous article was not intended as an attack on a competition that has done so many positive things in the country, including instilling a renewed interest in cricket in the public.
There’s so much to love about what the SA20 has done and what it continues to do. Off the field, Cricket SA has pocketed around R30-million; on the field, our domestic cricketers are being exposed to world-class international talent.
However, turning a blind eye to the number of black cricketers playing in the SA20 would be doing an injustice to my job as a journalist.
I’ve reported on the situation without pointing fingers at the SA20, whose hands are tied regarding the selection of players. I’ve mentioned what Cricket South Africa is doing to attempt to rectify the situation, such as the black African batters programme.
Had SA20 League Commissioner Graeme Smith — who understandably opted not to speak on issues related to race after the Social Justice and Nation Building hearings in 2021 — spoken to me before I wrote the article, I would have included SA20’s efforts to even the playing fields.
These include the SA20 Schools competition, which is the SA20’s attempt at growing the game across the board.
The efforts by Cricket SA and the SA20 are attempts at painting over the cracks of a broken system, but they remain the only viable options for change.
The achievements of black cricketers will continue to be celebrated as occurring against the odds, and the lack of black players in teams and tournaments in South Africa will continue to be pointed out. DM