The Dave Richardson commitee was not inclusive for coaches, says Robin Peterson
Gqeberha — Smaller, poorer unions are jeopardised by the promotion-relegation system in place in domestic cricket, says Warriors coach Robin Peterson.
Cricket South Africa called upon former ICC chief executive Dave Richardson to head a committee in charge of building a new domestic structure for South African cricket. That structure was implemented when the then director of cricket, Graeme Smith, took over back in 2019/2020.
Two seasons later, the ramifications of that decision are there for everyone to see.
What has been interesting to discover is the Richardson committee did not consult local coaches, in search of their views on how best to build a new model tol develop and accelerate South Africa’s brightest cricketing talent.
“They asked the Richardson commission to do all this. They say they got our views, but it was never discussed. There was no collaborative effort to get to the best solution,” Warriors coach Robin Peterson told IOL Sport in an exclusive interview.
If it were the Eastern Cape-based Warriors that were relegated, that would mean no team in the entire Eastern Cape region would play division one cricket. Mind you, the Eastern Cape is responsible for producing the majority of black cricketers in the country. The new domestic structure puts all this at risk.
Peterson suggests going back to eight teams will help prevent dilution of the best players with average ones.
“Imagine if we get relegated. Then there’s no division one team in the Eastern Cape and that’s where all the black cricketers come from. Why would Cricket South Africa even put that at risk? It’s as if the points I am making were never discussed in that Richardson commission,” he said.
“Why would anyone go watch domestic cricket if it’s so diluted?” asks Peterson.
“I’m not happy with promotion-relegation. People can say it gets the house in order, but I don’t think it’s that simple. I think there's too many professional cricketers in South Africa and we’ve got to get to fewer teams because that would mean batters face better bowling.
“You can say, ‘yes, but England are doing it’, but we can’t copy their system. They’ve got more facilities than us. They’ve got government building facilities, so it really isn’t the same thing.”
Peterson emphasised there is more to lose than there is to gain with the current promotion-relegation system, especially for the poorer unions. Smaller and poorer unions kept producing quality talent, while the bigger, richer unions simply bought them and left the smaller provinces dry and relegated.
“The teams with a lot of money will always have an advantage. Take for instance someone like Matthew Breetzke (top run-scorer in 4 Day series), I work with him until he gets his game figured out and then all of sudden a big team comes and offers him a big pay cheque and then he’s gone. Where does that leave the Warriors? It leads us to relegation.”
The new structure had also created a big debate about how the overall points system was set up. Domestic teams got the same number of points for winning a 4-Day game, a 50-over game and a T20 game. This points system then determined which team will be relegated or promoted after a two-season cycle.
Peterson said this is not a fair approach.
“How can there be the same weighting for winning a 4-Day game and a T20 game? Some guy can come in and hit two sixes in one over and win a T20 game, while you have to work hard in a 4-Day game, but you still get the same number of points as the team that won a T20 game.
“I think that’s ridiculous. No one put thought into that rule I feel,” he added.
In reply, Cricket South Africa said: “Mr Peterson is certainly entitled to his views, which CSA would welcome him to air with relevant structures within the organisation.
“It would therefore be unfair of CSA to engage Mr Peterson in the media space when there are opportunities to canvass his views internally.”
CSA, however, did not elaborate when asked about the “relevant structures within the organisation”.
* This story has been updated to include Cricket South Africa’s response.
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