NEW DELHI: The SA20’s impact on South African cricket is beginning to stretch well beyond the glitz, packed stadiums and presence of some of the biggest names in world cricket. Former South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris believes, tournament’s most significant contributions has been the pathway it is creating for young South African cricketers, with a growing scouting and development system helping unearth talent from schools, provincial cricket and even club cricket.
“I think every season we've unearthed some unbelievable young talent coming through,” Morris said in a media interaction on Tuesday. “It’s the SA20 system that they’ve got going, with Graeme Smith's vision for the tournament. They’ve also got the SA20 schools, and you’re seeing a lot of young players coming through there.” The pathway, according to Morris, starts much earlier than the SA20 itself. Youngsters who stand out in school cricket can progress into provincial teams and the South Africa Under-19 setup, while scouts around the country continue to look for players in club cricket.
“Those are the building blocks. Obviously, we’ve got scouting systems around the country as well. Players are being picked up from club cricket, like we saw a couple of years ago,” he said. For Morris, the most encouraging aspect is that the system can give players who may have gone unnoticed a route into professional cricket. A single performance can be enough to put an unknown youngster on the radar. “Sometimes, it takes just one performance in a game for someone to spot a player and think, ‘Jeez, we’ve found someone here who potentially never thought they’d have a chance of playing in the SA20,’” he elaborated.
The SA20’s Under-23 provision at the auction stage has added another layer to that pathway. It allows franchises to invest in young players early and bring them into an environment where they can learn from established cricketers, even if they are not immediately regulars in the playing XI. “The Under-23 rule that comes into play with the auctions is where it really comes together nicely. You start building players and getting them into the system early,” Morris said.
“For them to spend time with the senior players, see what the tournament is like, experience what it’s like to play in front of a crowd, and even if they don’t play, get to be part of that environment, that’s where I think we really start finding some gems.” That exposure, Morris feels, can be as important as the cricket itself. The SA20 brings international stars to South Africa, creating an environment in which young players can observe how experienced cricketers prepare, handle pressure and think about the game. “The SA20 has some world-class players coming to South Africa, and whenever you’re rubbing shoulders with international cricketers who have been around the world and performed on the big stage, you’re going to improve as a cricketer,” he said. Morris believes one of the biggest lessons youngsters can take from sharing a dressing room with international stars is the realisation that even the most celebrated players are human.
“You’re playing with some of the biggest names who have ever played the game, and you find out that they’re only human. They have insecurities like everybody else,” he said. “That can have a massive impact on a player. You look up to someone and think, ‘This person can’t do anything wrong,’ but then you find out before a game that they’re more nervous than you are. It changes your perspective on everything.”
The SA20 is also preparing youngsters for another aspect of international cricket: the pressure of performing in front of large crowds. South Africa’s domestic cricket rarely offers players the experience of performing regularly in front of packed stadiums. The SA20, however, has changed that equation, with sold-out venues, television audiences and the noise and spectacle that comes with franchise cricket. “With the SA20, all of a sudden there’s a packed crowd and this whole entertainment experience around you. People are making noise, shouting for their team, the DJ is going crazy, there are fireworks, and all of a sudden you have to perform with people watching,” Morris said.
He knows first-hand how overwhelming that experience can be. Recalling his first IPL experience, Morris said: “The first time I walked into an IPL stadium, I got the fright of my life because I couldn’t hear myself think.” That experience, he believes, can help South African youngsters develop the temperament required for international cricket much earlier in their careers. “Now that we have that in South Africa and our international players are experiencing it very early in their careers, all it can do is help them become better players,” he said.
For Morris, the ultimate measure of the SA20’s success will not simply be the quality of the tournament itself, but the number of young players it helps produce for South Africa. “We’re unearthing young talent that is making an absolute splash in South African cricket, if not world cricket,” he said.
The IPL has shown how quickly an unknown domestic player can emerge as a global name. Morris believes the SA20 now has the structures to create similar opportunities at home. “We’ve seen it in the IPL too, with a lot of young players coming through from absolutely nowhere, players no one had ever heard of, and lighting up the world stage,” he said. “So I think the system that the SA20 has put in place is a brilliant pathway into the SA20 and for South African cricket.”
SA20 season 5 player auction is scheduled for October 7. The tournament will kick start from January 17 next year.
