The Template
Maybe South Africa should make changes to its List A cricket...
This piece is something of a follow-up on this piece. CSA has interviewed players as they try to understand the World Cup exit and chart the way forward. Who knows what recommendations or actions they will take? There is also a possibility that the Proteas will have to play ODI world cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe in 2023. Will this necessitate another inquiry? In the meantime, as we wait to hear what they decide to do and who will take the reins as Proteas head coach (or head coaches, if they pick two), here is something that I think might help white-ball cricket.
came through with invaluable insights.If you are not yet a subscriber of Stumped!, join more than a thousand other professional athletes & ex-pros, coaches, commentators & analysts and casual sports fans that receive the newsletter in their inbox each week — it’s free:
UK’s Sunday League was formed six years after the first official List A match was played. Back then, List A matches were 65 overs long. Sunday League matches came at 40 overs a side. It was called the Sunday League because (surprise, surprise) matches were played on a Sunday. The BBC televised one match each week, and this helped in growing the popularity of the format.
Over the next few decades, the Sunday League attracted sponsors and its name changed with each new sponsor that came on board. It’s not just the name that changed a lot, the format evolved a lot too. Over a period of six years in the 1990s, the tournament became a 50-over thing at some point, reverted to 40 overs and then briefly became a 45-over thing. In 1999, they eventually settled for 40 overs and called the tournament the Pro40. In 2009, the Pro40 was rebranded to ECB 40.
The lasting legacy of the shapeshifting ECB 40 is that it injected a sense of urgency into batters, but not enough to turn them into sloggers. Cutting 10 overs removed the middle overs lull common in 50-over cricket. List A and ODI batters were not happy to just knock the ball around and trudge along at around four runs an over. ECB 40 batters cut down the dot ball percentage by running hard. Not only that, but they also increased their boundary percentages by hunting creative but less risky boundary options.
They found that sweet spot.
The ECB 40 was the lab where England’s future white-ball philosophy and identity were developed. In 2013, the last season of the ECB 40, Buttler had a strike rate of 146, and he was not the fastest scorer. But, it was not just high strike rates, it was high strike rates coupled with high averages.
Here is a snapshot of the impact the Pro40 had on the batting approach provided by
, it’s from between 2006 and 2009. England’s premier List A tournament (50-over), the Friends Provident trophy had 200 players who scored 200 runs in a season. 13.7% of them were quicker than a run-a-ball. In the NatWest Pro40 league, 144 players scored a 200-run season and 35.6% of them scored at over a run a ball.Players learned to score runs quickly on a consistent basis. The England players who did well in both the 2019 ODI and 2022 T20 world cups also did well in the ECB40. Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan, Alex Hales, Ben Stokes, Dawid Malan, Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali.
When Morgan and Bayliss defined the ‘England way of playing’, they tapped into existing but underutilized mindsets. The Counties, whose role is to produce players for England, simply went into ECB 40 mode in white-ball cricket to keep the pipeline churning out players fit for England duty.
This Substack column exists thanks to patrons and readers that leave tips. Stumped! is wholly supported by Readers Like You. To keep the weekly posts coming and to keep the lights on here, consider leaving a tip or supporting monthly on Patreon. You won’t regret it!
This newsletter also reaches more people because you share it with others:
The Proteas’ cautious/conservative approach is not isolated. It is the collective South African cricket way. A surprisingly high number of aggressive South African batters whom I have interviewed or read up on found inspiration in Australian batters when they were young. The South African way is absorbing pressure and picking your shots carefully.
That brand is built around the philosophy of defending the wicket and not attacking the bowler. It’s a brand more suited to Test cricket, but even Test cricket’s run rate has been gradually increasing over the years. The Proteas’ approach has been successful in large part because the Proteas have always had strong bowling line-ups that could defend even average totals. However, when the bowlers had a bad day at the office, the team struggled.
Hindsight is 20/20. The Pro40/ECB 40 was a happy accident for the English. Its impact can only be appreciated in hindsight. The English did not know what was happening while it was happening and didn’t take advantage of it.
From 2015 to the present (besides in 2020), England’s ECB 40 graduates have consistently scored at more than a run-a-ball in the middle overs. South Africa’s middle overs run rate is not as impressive. With this in mind, in List A cricket, an average of 50 at a strike rate of 82 is okay and an average of 45 at a strike rate of 93 is much better. Scoring at a run-a-ball or higher is ideal.
The Proteas don't need a happy accident to form the foundation of their white-ball revolution. They need to be intentional. Take lessons from England and ECB 40, modify things and step into the present. And that revolution does not need to happen at the Proteas level only, it needs to also happen at lower levels. And no, South African cricket does not need its own version of the ECB 40 for that revolution to happen, but it does need the ideas and mindset that the 40-over league spawned.
The ‘Proteas Way’ should no longer be a heavy dependence on bowlers saving the day. They should strive for balance. Greater aggression in batting in List A cricket will also help the bowlers because, under the onslaught, they are forced to find answers and ways to counter the onslaught. They have no time to rest on their laurels. Again, the ECB 40 provides an example. Bowlers found ways to counter the rampant batters.
The primary duty of franchises/provinces is to produce players who can play for the Proteas. Yes, the players they produce should be dynamic and adaptable, but, it would also help matters if CSA were to be explicit about what check boxes one needs to tick for certain roles and positions in the Proteas team. Role definition gives domestic players targets to aim for.
All this should be complemented by the appointment of a Proteas head coach who shares the vision. And as England did with Nathan Leamon during the Eoin Morgan-Trevor Bayliss era, it would help if the Proteas brought in a world-class analyst. That’s half the battle won.
The other half is in ensuring that the conditions allow for high quality competition. Quality over quantity. There is a bit of messiness in how the domestic league is running. Sometimes it feels as if there is a rush to get a season under the belt.
Barely a week after lifting the CSA T20 Challenge trophy, the Titans were competing in the 4-Day Challenge. This would not be an issue if domestic teams had more specialist players. They don’t. The current rushed turnaround between formats is not ideal. If the domestic season started earlier such scenarios would be prevented and teams would have adequate format preparations in-between formats.
CSA could take things a step further by following the IPL playoff format. The top two teams contest in a playoff in which the winner qualifies for the final. Numbers three and four contest for a spot to play against the loser in the first playoff for a spot in the final. The playoff matches get players accustomed to competing under pressure. Each year, the venue of the final would be predetermined by CSA. Different ground each year.
Of course, CSA would also need to liaise with pitch curators and have the best pitches possible for the brand they are looking to develop. That way, everyone is headed in the same direction.
It is rare that things take off without teething problems. Early on in their revolution, there were times when England failed to bat out their 50 overs. In one match, they lost five wickets for 14 to be bowled out for 302 in 45.2 overs. Not using up your overs had long been considered a cardinal sin in one-day cricket. It wasn't for Morgan and his team. The intent was on the team focusing on the process and fulfilling the brief, over batting out the overs.
Early on, the potential for blow outs will be huge. Strong bowling attacks will decimate batting units and weaker attacks will chase leather. Heck, sometimes teams have to reach rock bottom before rising.