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Franchises 'no' to Zimbabwe?
24/10/2007 22:22 - (SA)
Christo Buchner, Beeld
Johannesburg - The six South African cricket franchises may refuse to honour commitments that they should play in Zimbabwe this season.
This comes after a SuperSport Series match to be played in Harare was postponed on Wednesday.
The four-day match between the Highveld Lions and Zimbabwe was scheduled to start on Sunday.
Cricket SA would not say on Wednesday why the match had been postponed. The organisation's executive will meet on Friday to discuss the problems and decide what steps to take.
Tony Irish, CEO of the SA Players' Association, said on Wednesday the possibility of the franchises refusing to play in Zimbabwe could not be ruled out.
Irish said he had discussed the matter with representatives of all six franchises.
"There is great unhappiness about the decision to allow Zimbabwe to play in the three South African competitions (four-day, one-day and Pro20 matches).
"The decision was taken unilaterally by Cricket SA, without consulting the players or the franchises.
"We were not involved in the issue at all. Questions from the Players' Association and players were ignored.
"Our objections are purely cricket-related. We feel the game is being watered down when only one team will play for points while their opponents (Zimbabwe) are playing a mere friendly match," Irish said.
Was not given due consideration
"Something else that is causing concern is that Zimbabwe will be at full strength against some franchises but will field their second best against others when their national team play internationals.
"It is not fair that some South African teams will face weaker opposition then others," Irish said.
Zimbabwe are scheduled to play Pakistan in five one-day internationals later this year. Their top players will therefore not be available to play the SA franchises during that time.
Irish feels the decision to allow Zimbabwe to play in the SA competitions was not given due consideration.
Representatives of some franchises have also admitted that there are moral considerations that could make it "unacceptable" to play in Zimbabwe.
"During the apartheid era, South Africa faced boycotts because it was said there could be no normal sport in an abnormal society.
"Why does this not apply to Zimbabwe." Or do our cricket administrators feel that what is happening up there is normal?" one of the officials asked.
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