Organisation would prefer more play over weekends

The fact that the Proteas’ next four Tests start on a Sunday — twice — a Tuesday and a Monday is “not ideal”, and will further exacerbate poor ticket sales, says Cricket South Africa (CSA) CEO Pholetsi Moseki.

Following the embarrassing sight of rows of empty seats at Kingsmead for the opening Test of the summer featuring the sport’s top two teams, CSA is anticipating further sparse attendances in Gqeberha, Cape Town and the two Tests involving Bangladesh next month.

If it was up to me, I’d include a weekend for every Test match, it would help us maximise ticketing revenue — Pholetsi Moseki, Cricket SA CEO

“It’s the nature of where we currently find ourselves with the cricket calendar. If I could, I would have made this [Australian] tour another two weeks. It would have allowed us to start matches at a more suitable time for crowds to attend on the weekend,” Moseki said.

“We are basically having to squeeze Tests and ODIs into a month because that’s all the room we have or what Australia could give us. The days of England, India or Australia touring here for two or three months are long gone,” he added.

A match starting on a Sunday, as today’s second Test between Australia and the Proteas does, leaves four weekdays, during which it will primarily be the travelling supporters from Down Under, who will be creating an atmosphere at St George’s Park.

Concerned about crowd figures

The third Test in Cape Town, which usually has good supporter numbers for Test cricket, will start on a Tuesday, thus limiting attendance for at least the first three days of that match.

The two Bangladesh Tests will start on a Sunday at the Wanderers and a Monday at SuperSport Park, with officials at both of those unions concerned about crowd figures. “If it was up to me, I’d include a weekend for every Test match, it would help us maximise ticketing revenue,” Moseki said.

Australia will return home for a One-Day series starting on November 13, while the South Africa’s first Test against Bangladesh begins two days later. Although that two-week gap after the Australian series could have been shortened, CSA and Cricket Australia have heeded medical advice, for a rest period for players, which further hampers how fixtures are scheduled.

Bangladesh, too, were limited by the amount of time they could tour South Africa, because their players needed to get back home in time for the start of Bangladesh Premier League.

All three touring teams to South Africa this summer also insisted on playing One-Day matches, to help with their preparation for next year’s World Cup.

Faf criticises decision

Former Proteas captain Faf du Plessis criticised the decision to host the first Test in Durban, where the Proteas have a poor record, saying CSA should have taken the series opener to either Cape Town, Centurion or even Gqeberha.

But Moseki said the time of year the series is taking place made that challenging too. “Durban is the one place we could rely on for good weather at this time of the year. Playing there last week allowed St George’s and Newlands to have more time to get the preparations right and hopefully avoid bad weather, although I see now Gqeberha is getting rain [today],” he said.

The KZN Cricket Union will conduct an internal review into the reasons for the poor attendance during the first Test. Fewer than 20,000 spectators attended across the five days at a venue that can accommodate 25,000 people. Only 12 000 people attended the ODI between South Africa and Australia there on Heritage Day.

Moseki said CSA would be awaiting the outcome of the review, but also wanted to work alongside the union to find answers. “It was disappointing for Durban, but also [CSA]. Both parties need to understand the reasons.”