Johannesburg (South Africa): There have been questions raised over South Africa announcing a second string squad for their tour of New Zealand later this year as all their key players will be busy with the SAT20, the country's T20 league. But brushing aside all the criticism, the Cricket South Africa has said that it fully remains committed to international cricket.
"The Board of Cricket South Africa (CSA) notes the concerns about the composition of the Test squad that will be travelling to New Zealand later this month. We reassure the fans that CSA has the utmost respect for the Test format as the pinnacle of the game we love," the CSA stated in a media statement. It maintained that the New Zealand tour was planned when SA20 had not been finalized.
"The dates for this tour were set when the Future Tours Programme (FTP) for 2023-2027 was finalised in 2022. The window for the SA20 had not been determined at that stage. Once it became apparent that there would be a clash, we made every effort to find another mutually suitable time-slot for this 2 Test series in consultation with New Zealand Cricket.
"Regrettably the constraints imposed by the global cricket calendar rendered this impossible, as the games must be played before April 2025 as part of the World Test Championship," the CSA added. The CSA had announced a 14-member squad led by Neil Brand for the upcoming tour and faced critisism from the likes of Australia great and former skipper Steve Waugh.
The CSA maintained that the tour would be opportunity to demonstrate the depth of talent the Rainbow Nation has. "We commend Head Coach, Shukri Conrad and his staff for preparing the selected players for this tour, and we are confident that they will represent the Proteas badge with honour. We wish them all the very best. It is an opportunity to demonstrate the depth of talent that we have in South Africa.
Our schedule for the remainder of the FTP has been managed to ensure that there will not be any further clashes between our bilateral commitments and the SA20. CSA remains fully committed to international cricket and to strengthening the SA20, a tournament that was initiated by us to help grow and sustain the game," it added.
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