South Africa
South Africa (Credits: BCCI)

The turmoil in South Africa cricket is becoming worse with each passing moment. Not much has been going right for South Africa on the field as well as off it. In the summer, they had a disastrous World Cup where they failed to progress ahead of the league stage. They managed to win just three of their nine games and bowed out of the competition.

It was followed by a disastrous tour of India. After managing to draw the T20I series 1-1, they were completely outplayed by the hosts in the three-match Test series. South Africa proved no match for India as the Virat Kohli-led side inflicted a humiliating whitewash on the tourists. India won two of the three games by an innings as they registered their first whitewash over South Africa in Tests.

Things are not falling into place for the nation off the field either. From quite some time now, there have seen widespread calls for the Cricket South Africa (CSA) board and CEO to step down following different issues. The CSA recently revoked the accreditation of journalists without cause, and is also delaying in appointing a director of cricket. There is also a tussle going on between the board and South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) regarding commercial rights.

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South Africa
South Africa. Credits: Twitter

Players threaten to go on a strike:

With things not looking promising at the moment, the players have threatened to go on a strike, just days before the home series against England. South Africa and England are due to meet on Boxing Day in the first test at Centurion, but the ongoing chaos has put a huge question mark over the series.  SACA chief executive Tony Irish said that the games are unlikely to be affected by any industrial action, but could not rule it out.

“We still have to discuss the principle of it (industrial action), this is a very early stage of discussion and we will be very mindful of the importance of the international fixtures. It is unlikely those will be affected,” he told Reuters.

“We will be responsible around the international tours, because we know that those affect teams from outside of South Africa,” he added.

At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility of a strike although he insisted that it would be the last resort. He also made it clear that the players have been left exasperated by CSA’s refusal to engage with them on a number of issues.

“It is an exhaustion of all other means of trying to deal with issues. Agreements are breached, we raise concerns, we try to resolve issues, and the result from the other side (CSA) is just to carry on. At some stage you must decide whether you will accept that,” Irish said.

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“It is about protecting the game and making sure it is healthy and sustainable going forward. That is critical for the players, whose livelihoods depend on it,” he added.

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