South Africa committed to SA20, Test cricket can thrive for rest of the year: Smith

Listen to Story Former South Africa captain and the chairman of the Sa20 league Graeme Smith has said that the and there will be plenty of time for Test cricket to thrive through the rest of the year. Smith's comments come after the country were criticised for sending an under strength side for the 2 Test tour to New Zealand.

In the 14 member squad, South Africa named 7 uncapped players, including their captain for the series Neil Brand. Smith, while speaking to Press Trust of India said that schedule clashes between Test tours and their home grown franchise tournament should reduce in the next few years. “SA20 is (for) four weeks a year which we operate on and obviously, one or two challenges happen and that’s not ideal.

That should get better and better every season,” Smith, the commissioner of SA20, told PTI in an exclusive interaction. The former captain said that the domestic league was very important the country as it will be a big part of the future. “South African cricket has made a commitment that SA20 is a big part of its future and gives it the best chance to succeed.

I believe it’s just four weeks a year and there would be a lot of chance to play Test cricket,” Smith, without getting into the latest controversy raging over the country’s cricket, made himself clear as to how he perceived the situation. Smith did not agree that there were any concerns about the survivability with Test cricket but argued that the ODI format is under proper threat.

“There are two more World Cups that have been sold to broadcasters and one in SA in 2027 and 2031 is back in India. Even in between the cycle, ODI cricket is going to find itself in challenging space,” Smith admitted. “One format that is falling is the category where people are less interested and patches of game which are going to be slow.

Test cricket is always going to be enthralling and we know how much T20 they enjoy and the success it has commercially gained," he further added. Smith concluded by saying that the the ODI World Cups might reduce in numbers in future..