New Competitions In South Africa Domestic Cricket (03 Apr 1996)

The recent Benson & Hedges Night Series final in Johannesburg was the last match to be played under that banner in South Africa. From next season domestic limited over cricket in South Africa will be sponsored by Standard Bank and two competitions will replace the current night series.

The Standard Bank league will be played in the first half of the season and will involve all 11 provincial teams playing each other in a round robin format. The winners of this league will be crowned the Standard Bank League champions.

The second half of the season will see the top 6 sides from the Standard Bank league as well as Kenya and the reigning Zimbabwean domestic champions (currently Mashonaland) participating in a knock out tournament which will have a three match final.

UCB managing director Ali Bacher stated that part of the motivation for the revised format were the fortunes of South Africa in the World Cup and Western Province in this seasons B&H series. Both teams won all of their matches in the preliminary rounds only to be eliminated from the competitions as soon as they entered the knock-out phase.

Standard Bank are keen to retain coloured clothing for the competition and to have matches played on Friday evenings and on Sundays.