SA to host Pakistan, SL and Zimbabwe in busy summer

JOHANESBURG: South Africa will play five home Tests, 13 One-day Internationals (ODIs) and nine T20s in the 2018-19 summer, which will see incoming tours from Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Monday.

The international fixtures start on September 30 and end on March 24 but there is a 10-week gap between mid-October and Boxing Day, leaving room for the possibility of a T20 Global League, though the future of the tournament remains uncertain.

After the busiest home season in South African history in 2017-18, which included 10 Tests — one of which was the first day-night, four-day long format fixture — South Africa will have much less of a workload next summer. They will only play half the number of Tests but more than double in ODIs and T20s, as preparation for the 2019 World Cup.

That means the five major Test venues receive one match each, with a significant change in the hosting of the Boxing Day Test. Centurion’s SuperSport Park has been selected as the venue for the fixture, which will move inland after several years of being played on the coast.

Previously, the match has alternated between Durban and Port Elizabeth, with the rationale that holiday-makers from up-country would fill the stadiums but poor crowds over recent years have forced a change. Though many Highveld residents flock to the sea over the festive season, a large number remain at home over that period and CSA have long spoken about trialling the Boxing Day match there.

The New Year’s Test remains at Newlands in Cape Town while Kingsmead and St George’s Park will host Sri Lanka in the final tour of the summer.

The Tests will not have the profile of the previous season, when India and Australia featured in two high-octane tours of South Africa, but with Faf du Plessis’ men ranked No 2, and the return of big names such as AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn (provided he comes through a county stint at Hampshire and away Tests against Sri Lanka in July), CSA are hopeful interest in the long format will remain high.

“Following the outstanding Test match cricket played by the Proteas during the past season we can also look forward to plenty more world-class entertainment by our acknowledged stars during the five Test matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka,” Thabang Moroe, Acting CSA CEO, said.

But the focus of next season is on white-ball cricket, with coach Ottis Gibson mandated to do everything he can to win the 2019 World Cup, a tournament that is likely to be a swansong for several players.

Du Plessis, de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Imran Tahir and JP Duminy, amongst others, may end their international careers at the World Cup, giving South Africa extra motivation to try and break their major tournament drought.

“It is going to be a very busy period and a very big one for our Standard Bank Proteas who will be using the programme of 13 ODIs against three different opponents in addition to the away tours to fine-tune their preparations for the 2019 ICC World Cup,” he said.

Though Zimbabwe did not qualify for the World Cup, they will be South Africa’s first opponents and the only ones who will play at the smaller venues around the country. Kimberley, Bloemfontein, Paarl, East London, Potchefstroom and Benoni will not have any matches against either Pakistan or Sri Lanka, with those concentrated at the big grounds.

Fixtures:

Zimbabwe:

September 30: First ODI, Kimberley. October 3: Second ODI, Bloemfontein. 6: Third ODI, Paarl. 9: First Twenty20 international, East London. 12: Second Twenty20 international, Potchefstroom. 14: Third Twenty20 international, Benoni.

Pakistan:

December 19-21: SA Invitation XI, Benoni. 26-30: First Test, Centurion. January 3-7: Second Test, Cape Town. 11-15 : Third Test, Johannesburg. 19: First ODI, Port Elizabeth. 22: Second ODI, Durban. 25: Third ODI, Centurion. 27: Fourth ODI, Johannesburg. 30: Fifth ODI, Cape Town. February 1: First Twenty20 International, Cape Town. 3: Second Twenty20 International, Johannesburg. 6: Third Twenty20 International, Centurion.

Sri Lanka:

February 13-17: First Test, Durban. 21-25: Second Test, Port Elizabeth. 28: SA Invitation XI, Benoni. March 3: First ODI, Johannesburg. 6: Second ODI, Centurion. 10: Third ODI, Durban. 13: Fourth ODI, Port Elizabeth. 16: Fifth ODI, Cape Town. 19: First Twenty20 international, Cape Town. 22: Second Twenty20 international, Centurion. 24: Third Twenty20 international, Johannesburg.