In recent years, the cricketing landscape has begun to shift drastically. With the proliferation of T20 franchise leagues across the world, players are steadily prioritising such tournaments in order to financially secure their future, even if that sometimes means not representing their country.
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International cricket, and Test cricket in particular, has been seen as the pinnacle of cricketing achievement for much of the sport's history, but there is a fear that privatised leagues are beginning to devalue the status of players representing their country.
The latest twist in this battle of international vs franchise cricket came when South Africa announced their Test squad for the tour of New Zealand in February.
Steve Waugh slams ICC, cricket boards for choosing profits over legacy
Cricket South Africa (CSA) picked a second-string squad for the tour with only three members of the current squad; David Bedingham, Keegan Petersen and Zubayr Hamza, named among the 15.
The most experienced member of the side is bowler Duanne Olivier with 15 Test caps, while seven players including captain Neil Brand have never represented South Africa in Test cricket.
The reason for the squad selection is that the CSA's domestic T20 league, SA20 is set to be held from January 10-February 10. Any player part of the competition is contractually obligated to prioritise the league over international cricket, and hence could not be available for selection for the New Zealand tour.
Former Australian captain Steve Waugh took to social media to express his displeasure at the situation, taking aim at the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the CSA for the current predicament.
While the decision to bind players to the SA20 appears to be a money-grabbing move by South Africa's cricket board, it is worth noting that the organisation's financial struggles have been well-documented and this could potentially be a move of self-preservation.
These struggles are not helped by the fact that the ICC's proposed revenue distribution model for 2024-27 will see the 'Big 3' of India, England and Australia take 51.6% of the earnings. South Africa are set to earn just 4.37%, less than the likes of Bangladesh (4.46%) and Sri Lanka (4.52%).
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