It’s no secret that T20 cricket has done incredible things to promote the sport across the world, and as much as purists might still prefer longer formats, the shortest version has drawn people of all ages to the game and attracted fans to stadiums.
So it’s no surprise that just about every country which has a national cricket team has either started a T20 league – virtually copying the format of the extremely successful Indian Premier League (IPL) – or is at least talking about launching something similar.
Even in South Africa, the SA20 has given local cricket an incredible boost (with the support of IPL franchises) and has reignited the domestic game.
However, the Africa Cricket Association’s talks about launching a continental T20 Cup tournament (according to a Cricinfo report) might be too ambitious. At the very least, they’re jumping the gun.
Not enough quality or depth
As things stand, the strongest cricketing nation in Africa, by a long shot, is South Africa, and it’s highly unlikely we would send anything close to a full-strength team to compete in a continental tournament.
The biennial Asia Cup has been held since 1984, and while it was played in the ODI format until 2018, it now alternates between the T20 and ODI forms of the game.
And though it has been successful, Asia is packed with powerful cricket nations – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan – which gives the tournament a certain amount of respectability.
The reality is that the game in Africa is just not strong enough to draw the same sort of attention from fans, sponsors or broadcasters.
At the recent T20 World Cup, seven Asian countries participated (even after Bangladesh withdrew), while only three African countries – South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia – took part.
Outside those three nations, no other African teams are ranked among the top 20 sides in the world, and if the Proteas field a second-string squad, it will be so watered down the tournament would be played at the same level as junior international cricket, at best.
Focus on development first
If the Africa Cricket Association wants to hold a successful continental cup tournament, it needs to start by strengthening the game at its foundation and raising the standard among the likes of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, which are all cricket-playing nations but need a lot of work in terms of development.
If the level improves across the continent, an Africa Cup competition would be great, but until then it seems like a pointless pipe dream that isn’t going to hold any weight.
