Cricket South Africa to introduce racial quota in national teams

CSA to introduce racial quota in national teams

Johannesburg: Cricket South Africa (CSA) plan to introduce racial quotas in national teams, the board said Tuesday without giving details. CSA president Chris Nenzani said the national body wanted a minimum number of black cricketers in all national teams. But he gave no details regarding the number of blacks that must be selected. “[This] will depend on work to be undertaken by relevant committees to determine what is realistic and sustainable. This will be announced in due course. Targets would be calculated over a year and not apply on a match-by-match basis. In the past we never set targets in our national teams, but with changing circumstances we feel it is essential to move with the times,” Nenzani said. READ: CSA removes Ackerman as host for award ceremony

Cricket, rugby, netball and athletics came under fire from the South African government this year for a lack of post-apartheid racial transformation. Sports minister Fikile Mbalula banned the four sports from bidding for or hosting international competitions until a transformation review next April.

Traditionally, national cricket and rugby teams have been dominated by whites while football teams are predominantly black. While the pace of racial change has been slow, the One-Day International (ODI) cricket team that beat Australia last month included a record eight black players. Racial quotas are in place at domestic cricket level with the six top-tier teams compelled to field at least six black players. READ: CSA suspends SA’s performance review panel

CSA had announced last month that the independent review of its national squads in all formats of the game has been suspended until further notice after some unnamed members were asked to step down from the panel. The review was initiated after the poor performance of the teams in the past few months at home and abroad.

(With inputs from PTI)