Cricket South Africa (CSA) Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith, believes thatinternational cricket is at a crucial stage, and the International CricketCouncil (ICC) will have to pay special attention to restore the balance ofinternational cricket.
Smith said that the international calendar is dominated by the big three,India, Australia, and England, and if things continue the same way, it willbe difficult for other nations to play regular cricket.——————————
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Smith said that the power of the big three cricketing boards has shiftedthe focus from other nations and provided a platform for their franchiseleagues to thrive. He was critical of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Pakistan is scheduled to tour South Africa to play three ODIs and fourT20Is in April of this year, which might cause scheduling conflicts withthe IPL. Smith said that he hoped to have a full-strength side to facePakistan as many South African cricketers are under contract with IPL teams.
Smith said that the scheduling conflict is a tedious matter, and CSA iswaiting for the IPL dates to be finalized.——————————
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“We have also made a commitment to release our players over the years toIPL. There’s always been a window that we have committed to as CSA and it’sbeen in the calendar. It’s something we need to robustly debate,” he added.
Smith also talked about CSA’s relationship with the Australian CricketBoard. He said that the relationship is strained at this stage due toAustralia pulling out of the tour at the last moment. He said that a formalcomplaint has been made to the ICC and called the incident “against thespirit of sportsmanship.”
“It needs to understand the complexities. I don’t think world cricket wantsthree nations competing against each other in ten years’ time,” he said.
