Kolpak Deal Hurting South Africa's Cricket Badly, Says Faf du Plessis

South Africa suffered a humiliating defeat going down 3-0 against India in the three-match Test series. There has been a lot of speculations over the current set-up and skipper Faf du Plessis feels that Kolpak deal is hurting South African cricket badly.

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The Proteas were all out for 162 and 133 runs in reply to India’s 497 in the first innings. As a result, they went down by an innings and 202 runs – their worst defeat against the host. Meanwhile, South Africa also had a poor start to the ICC World Test Championship campaign.

The Kolpak deal allows players from countries with free trade deals with the European Union (EU) to play cricket in any EU country without being considered an overseas player. They can sign up with English counties without being considered overseas players.

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South Africa have witnessed their top cricketers leaving the country to play in County League. Faf du Plessis feels they have lost top cricketers due to Kolap deal but is hopeful that things will change after Brexit.

“It’s sad for SA cricket. If you see Simon Harmer had an unbelievable season [in county cricket]. Maybe post Brexit the guys will still go and play there but you can still pick them for the country. That’s the situation you want to get to. At this point, we don’t have that option,” du Plessis said.

“Guys like Hashim Amla and others, they won’t be playing domestic cricket back home after their international careers. So you lose all of that which can help young guys so much. It’s important to find ways to bridge that gap,” he added.

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Faf du Plessis is hopeful that post-Brexit South Africa will get their top players to field even they chose to play in County Cricket. The Proteas skipper believes Brexit will come as a saviour for South African cricket.

“So maybe, post-Brexit, guys will still go and play there, but you can still pick them for your country. Brexit will be one thing that will stop obviously the Kolpak players. So yes that would benefit SA cricket tremendous amounts,” du Plessis concluded.