Cricket South Africa under fire for lack of black cricketers in ICC T20 World Cup 2024 squad
Former South Africa sports minister Fikile Mbalula slammed Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) for selecting only one black player (Kagiso Rabada) in the 15-player squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 held in June.
According to the CSA’s current target, the national team must field up to six players of colour in its squad throughout a season, with at least two of those players having to be black Africans. Rabada is the lone black African in the 15-man provisional team that South Africa announced last month, which also includes six players of colour (Reeza Hendricks, Bjorn Fortuin, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, and Ottniel Baartman). Despite the fact that Lungi Ngidi is listed as a reserve, it does not entirely achieve the national team’s target.
Pointing out the issue, former South Africa sports minister Fikile Mbalula took on Twitter (X) to criticize CSA.
Additionally, Ray Mali, the former president of the CSA and ICC, stated that the team is a sign of the game’s decline in the nation.
“I think a lot has been accomplished, but I think we have taken a step backwards instead of going forward. I cannot understand why we can’t have a (larger) number of black players in the South African cricket team at this day and age which is not acceptable,” Mali stated on SABC Sport.
Mali continued his criticism by saying that it was an injustice of the nation’s black African population.
“The people who requested us to negotiate the unification of this nation have been misled. You can predict which players will represent South Africa since they are trained or studied from the bottom,” he continued.
It is important to note that Cricket South Africa does not currently have a designated selection committee. The two coaches, Rob Walter (ODIs and T20Is) and Shukri Conrad (Tests), make the decisions after consulting with Enoch Nkwe, the director of cricket.
Last month, Rob Walter, the white-ball coach, was asked about the team’s makeup. “Building a winning team is the number one priority,” he replied.
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