“While the development of the red-ball format is important, resources are currently being directed at the white-ball formats.” - Enoch Nkwe on the failure to provide DRS for the women’s Test.
Telford Vice / Bloemfontein
HEATHER Knight said “parity” three times and “equality” once during her press conference in Bloemfontein on Saturday, mostly in relation to the variance in the money paid to women and men players in The Hundred.
But a different disparity loomed. Cricbuzz understands Knight discovered on Saturday that DRS would not be in operation for the Test between South Africa and England that starts at Mangaung Oval on Sunday.
So much for parity and equality. There is no way the system would not be used for a modern men’s international in South Africa.
The match will be the first women’s Test played in South Africa since March 2002. The gap is longer than the country's teams spent in isolation from international cricket as a consequence of the boycott against teams from the then apartheid state.
Cricket followers would be forgiven for assuming the Test had been unofficially relegated to second-class status, and that that has happened because it is being played by women.
CSA would beg to differ. In response to questions from reporters, Enoch Nkwe, the director of national teams and high performance, was quoted as saying in a statement: “The inclusion of DRS … was agreed upon at the planning stage of the tour, noting that it’ll be the first time it was used for women’s bilateral tours in South Africa in recent history.
“The white-ball formats were prioritised with regards to DRS for this tour as it directly impacted the Proteas women’s rankings in T20I cricket and the ICC Women’s Championship as well as the overall CSA strategy for the senior women’s national team.
“While the development of the red-ball format is important, it is worth noting that resources are currently being directed at the white-ball formats due to the significance of ODI and T20I cricket in the current women’s international cricket landscape.”
Tell that to Kerrin Klaaste and Lauren Agenbag, who will make their Test debuts as on-field umpires. The buck stops with them, so they had better get their decisions right every time. Or perhaps they are quietly relieved that their calls cannot be electronically second-guessed as forensically as would otherwise have been the case. What is certain is that Bongani Jele should be far less busy than television officials usually are.
DRS is estimated to cost from USD12,000 per day’s play to USD500,000 per Test. That expense tends to be factored into the rights fees paid by broadcasters to boards. But considering CSA reported profits of USD45.6-million for the 2023-24 financial year in September, there will be little sympathy for them not stumping up for DRS in the Bloemfontein Test.
SuperSport, too, wouldn’t be granted a hearing. A monthly subscription for the service that includes their channels can cost almost USD60, and while their subscriber base has declined it still numbers a hefty 14.9-million.
On top of the DRS deficiency, viewers might notice differences in the quality of the broadcast. Only seven crewed cameras will be deployed, whereas up to 30 are used in major matches. Just two of the usually four static cameras that are trained on the crease will be used. Both are mounted on the same side of the field, thus the making of runout decisions could be hampered if replays are obstructed.
DRS is not a compulsory part of playing conditions, but the fact that it was utilised in the six white-ball games South Africa and England contested in the past three weeks begs the question: why not for four more days? Instead, it looks like the suits have dropped the ball. If DRS was available, a clean catch would have been confirmed.
Cricbuzz
It is clear the Operations Team at CSA and its senior management made a gross error of judgement over not including DRS as part of the technical and operational support for the women's test in Bloemfontein last week. An inquiry as to why such an "odd ball" decision was made by the management and operations teams at CSA needs to be undertaken if women's test cricket is to grow as a global media product. Its absence from the match had a profound impact on the course of the match for the batters and bowlers for both team. The sudden collapse of the MP's in their second innings proves all of this. Pholetsi Moseki who recently won a Sports Industry Award for his leadership as CEO of CSA should conduct a root and branch inquiry of his Operations Team to find out why such a gross error of judgement on their part over DRS came about. It is simply not good enough to say it was too expensive when CSA's capital and reserves on its balance are sitting on a mountain of cash from the six IPL franchises. Who have all paid a ten year up front cash bond to CSA to be part of the Betway SA 20 League.