STUART HESS
The creation of a women’s SA20 tournament looks no closer to fruition than was the case three years ago with SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith admitting there were “a lot of complexities” about starting a competition.
The third season of the SA20 concluded at Wanderers in front of a packed audience, and the season as a whole appears to have garnered mostly positive feedback. But a women’s tournament of similar standing still looks a few years away from starting.
“There are a lot of complexities,” Smith said. “The Proteas ladies’ programme is getting busier, the Women’s IPL is almost in our window. We have to sit with Cricket SA (CSA) and see what the future landscape looks like.”
It was only at the start of this season that CSA contracted players at provincial level and created two competitions. Attempts to have a SA20 women’s tournament were always going to be dependent on the number of professional female cricketers in the country.
While the Proteas women’s team has grown into a competitive unit on the international stage, it has between 15 and 20 players, which is insufficient to carry a league, as is the case in the Australia, India and England. The three nations host the three biggest women’s franchise competitions and have also invested more financially in the structures of women’s cricket than has been the case in SA.
The recent success of the SA under-19 team in reaching the final of the junior T20 World Cup will undoubtedly accelerate any movement around a women’s SA20, but the timing of the WPL also means the competition would probably be limited in scope. For now, Smith said, the most important work was continuing to develop cricketers at junior level.
“We are into our third year of under-19 girls’ camps and the schools programmes for girls and boys. At the moment CSA wants to get its programmes done, develop the talent pool and invest in the domestic contracting.
“We need to put it on a strategy board and see how we can do it. It’s hard to put a timeline (as to when a Women’s SA20, will start),” Smith said.
Smith said the league would also be working with CSA regarding stadium improvement, especially ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup which will be hosted in SA. CSA is engaged in installing new lights at all the host venues for 2027, new training facilities, general ground upgrades and pitches.
“In general the pitches in SA need a lot of work. Our pitches are overused and you can see that in some games. For the Wanderers to be as dry as it has been is unheard,” he said.
CSA has started a programme to grow drop-in pitches for the big venues with an eye on trying them next season in domestic matches. The first drop-in pitch is being grown at the Wanderers and will be installed at the end of the season.
