Irate Russell Domingo demands more domestic games

Despite Cricket SA’s healthy financial position, the decreased number of matches at domestic level for teams in Division 1 has left one senior coach fuming. 

“The [big problem] is that there’s not enough cricket being played,” said Russell Domingo, the head coach of the DP World Lions. “The money they [CSA] have made, needs to be put back into domestic cricket if they want the national side to get better. We’ve got to play more games.”

All three of this season’s Division 1 competitions will consist of a single round of fixtures, before a set of play-off matches. Leaving aside those semifinals and finals, the eight teams in Division 1 will play just 21 matches each, seven fewer than last season.  “The Lions don’t play a game in December, I’ve never heard such bullshit in my life,” said Domingo . 

“For example, if Zubayr Hamza is a backup player for the Test side, and someone gets injured, he has to come from the beach in Cape Town. The thinking behind that is just stupid.” 

Russell, who previously coached the Proteas and later Bangladesh, was named Coach of the Year at the CSA awards last week. His frustration is amplified by CSA’s announcement at its AGM a week ago it had made a profit of R815m for the financial year ending April 30.

Although much of that will be ploughed back into the domestic system, specifically to aid the growing programme for the SA A team, Domingo , like Proteas limited-overs coach Rob Walter, feels more matches have to be played at provincial level. 

“There aren’t many things you improve at by doing less of it, so we are trying to find opportunities for guys to do more,” Walter said last Monday in response to a question about improving the standards of the domestic game. 

Domingo added: “Ultimately, rand and cents dictate these decisions, which is going to cause big problems. It’s bigger than me. I’m just a coach. There are people at board level who must do that. It’s important to have people who understand the needs of cricket to make those decisions.”

Provincial unions — aside from the Lions, Northerns and KZN — all struggle financially, with the majority of unions reliant on the distribution from CSA to keep their heads above water.

However, Northerns CEO Jacques Faul said he had sympathy for some of the cash-strapped unions in Division 1 who backed the decision to play fewer matches. “It is difficult financially, but there’s also the calendar to consider. We have less time in the domestic season because six weeks have been set aside for SA20, which was never there before 2022,” he said.

“My biggest concern is playing just one round of Four-Day fixtures. We need to play more to help the Proteas Test team, but there’s just not enough time for a double round. We are already starting the season in September.” 

Despite the lack of playing time, the overall standard of domestic cricket wasn’t as bad as was made out to be, said Domingo. “We were involved in a couple of Four-Day games with Western Province last season, and there were two fantastic sides playing, with some really good cricketers, with six or seven international players on each side,” he said.

“Every international team can say the domestic system in their country needs to get stronger. You look at County cricket — our players go and play in England, and they just dominate.”

Domingo cited David Bedingham as one example. The 30-year-old right-hander, who made his Test debut for the Proteas last season, is the leading run-scorer in Division 1 of the County Championship this year, having scored 1,205 runs at an average of 86.07. “He doesn’t do that when he plays in South Africa, but he cleans up there,” he said.

“Every domestic system has its challenges. They’re not perfect, and there’s a step-up for all players to international cricket, [and] it’s got to be of a different standard. I think there are players who’ve come through who have done well. 

“Nqaba Peter and Kwena Maphaka haven’t looked out of place, and Bedingham is another. There are enough good players in our system, and they’ll always stand apart,” Domingo added.