The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) on Wednesday was left distraught after Cricket South Africa (CSA) via a teleconferencing reached to the point of holding up the inaugural edition of Twenty20 Global League until November 2018.
The Chief Executive of SACA, Tony Irish revealed they are not familiar with what the delaying of the tournament would put on the plate, but believes it would not be possible soon and would eventually go into a bad taste far as the competition is concerned.
“At this stage we’re unsure of exactly what a postponement means other than the fact that it’s clear the league will not take place this year,” Irish revealed in a statement.
The confirmation was only passed on to the media after the joint meeting between CSA, and the stakeholders of the league held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of CSA acting CEO, Thabang Moroe, who is also the vice-president of the Proteas cricket board.
Moroe has been assigned an additional role while he also revealed and warned the set-up for bracing up for the losses from the first edition of T20 Global league. On the other side, Moroe stated it was not the easiest of the decisions to be made while reiterating the option was taken into consideration for the benefit of the league to maintain its credibility.
“We have not come to this decision lightly. Having discussed it with all our stakeholders including the franchise owners, we believe that the interest of the league should be our first priority,” Moroe maintained.
As the decision didn’t sit well with the SACA, which further expressed an anguish and a huge concern over the decision of postponement of the domestic T20 Global League in the Proteas fold due to the unavoidable circumstances after CEO Haroon Lorgat got sacked from his top-brass position.
“We have re-assessed our strategy and believe that postponing the first edition of the T20 Global League to next year will serve us well,” Moroe remarked.
(Read Also: Watch: South Africa Cricket Stadium Turns into Swimming Pool!)
Pertinently, the maiden edition of the eight-team tournament was earlier slated for November 3 after the draft got completed in August and the trophy launch eventually.
“Some players turned down other opportunities in order to commit themselves to these contracts,” Irish added.
The CSA struggled to sign a deal with the local broadcasting giant Super Sport, as the lack of title sponsorship has also played the spoilsport in the proposed league.
“SACA is well aware of the fact that this will also affect various other groups including franchises, coaches and stadium owners,” Irish further added.
The reports suggested those were the main reason to force the cricket administration to postpone the eagerly-awaited league, as Irish want the players should be given compensation.
“We will be looking at all implications of this for players, including what compensation should be paid to them,” Irish concluded.
Interestingly, the T20 competition has grabbed the eyeballs which impressed the star players across the cricketing world, but due to the lack of proper planning – the debacle of the league further left the cricket lovers fuming and disappointed.