South Africa: New pressure on Gauteng (16 February 1999)

16 February 1999

South Africa: New pressure on Gauteng

Trevor Chesterfield

CENTURION (South Africa) - It is a question of attitude and an ability to handle pressure Gauteng may fancy their chances of beating Eastern Province in their efforts to secure the lucrative final berth in East London early next month.

The battle in the Wanderers bullring starting on Friday is one where two of four provinces, including Northerns, are involved in matches which could decide their future interest in bidding for a place in the SuperSport final. Western Province, joint second with Gauteng, move off to the land of the big hole in the hope of dumping Griqualand West along with their skipper, Kepler Wessels, down that long disused mineshaft.

What we now have is the sort of end of season scramble not seen since the last Castle Currie Cup final, alias the modern M-Net sponsored series. This was some years ago and before the rush to watch tests and the LOI slogs relegated the domestic A Section to what it has become, developing talent for the Test team and the slogs.

At present, if you listen to the vibe from the general Wanderers, Newlands and St George's Park, any one of the three will arrive art Buffalo Park in East London on Wednesday, March 3 to prepare for the final, with the name of the Border's rival for the A Section crown being decided, most likely, on February 28, a Sunday. Which means Northerns need to make a major impact when they play Natal this weekend if they hope to shake the confidence of the other three in the hunt for the final place.

While the speculation continues, the UCB are looking at ways of improving the attractiveness of the A Section and drawing more spectators through the gate. An estimated daily audience of 40 000 watch the pay-channel product, which is a fairly healthy state for a series all but ignored by the state broadcaster, ABC, whether it be TV or radio.

In any event the UCB are looking to spice up the system as Easterns and North West become A Section teams under a new transformation format. What this could mean are Coastal and Inland divisions, with cross section matches designed to give inland teams experience playing at the coast and coast sides inland.

The inland sides would be Easterns, Griqualand West, Northerns, North West, Free State and Gauteng; the coastal teams Boland, Border, Eastern Province, Natal and Western Province.

Not that the UCB are totally sold on any ideas as they have inherent complications. They are also considering a north and south format, which could lead to some interesting alignments while the third option is Group A and Group B.

As Imtiaz Patel, director of professional affairs at the UCB said yesterday, however, the thinking goes far deeper than toying with the idea of two pools.

"It is more about strength versus strength situation," Patel admitted.

"Transformation is not just about political and social strategies within the system. It also incorporates business structures and this is what we are looking at when we meet.

"Just what form the meeting is to take has yet to be decided," he said, confirming that the dates are May 7-9. "What we are looking at is the whole structure of the domestic game and the product. So it will include the four day as well as the limited-overs format, league and cup."

What comes out of this is to determined the future of the game in the early years of the new millennium.

Source :: Trevor Chesterfield, Pretoria News