Johannesburg, Jan 22 : Cricket South Africa (CSA) is planning to spread out its top-flight structure, as it feels its domestic foundation is strong enough to do so. Beleaguered CSA CEO Gerald Majola thinks that South Africa has ample amount of talent to have more than six franchise teams challenging at the top level.
“We will review the structures of domestic cricket. After moving from 11 provinces to six franchises [in 2003] we discovered that the new structure worked,” Majola said while speaking after the CSA board held its quarterly meeting in Johannesburg.
He also senses that there are some really gifted players present in South Africa who deserve to play in the top–flight and this expansion plan can provide them with the right opportunity, Sports24 reports. “There are some players, though, who are moving straight from [amateur] provincial teams to franchise teams and proving to be some of the best players in the system.”
“Six [top-flight teams] might not be the right number. “We think there are enough quality players who can move straight into franchise cricket,” he said. He urged the provinces to show that they could stand alone as separate entities before converting them from franchise to additional top-flight teams. "We need to ensure that the affiliates are financially viable and that the quality of franchise cricket is still there," he added.
© ANI
