Five days in which four-day cricket hogs the limelight

There is a modicum of fuss about the Four-Day Series final. The match, between the Lions and Western Province at the Wanderers, will be a five-day affair. SuperSport will be broadcasting. Vernon Philander is one of the commentators.

That there is any fuss deserves applause. Four-Day cricket is the lame cousin of T20. Not just in SA, but everywhere that cricket is played, it is shunted to the margins.

Take this season in SA; the Four Day Series started on November 4. The next day everyone’s attention was on SA’s World Cup round-robin match against India in Kolkata.

The tournament took a “sabbatical” for six weeks at the end of December so that SA20 could happen, and its last few rounds and final, is being squeezed in ahead of the Cricket SA T20 Challenge, which will have more hype to start with because the nationally contracted players will be participating, before some of them head off to the Indian Premier League (IPL).

So while it’s in the spotlight, the five-day Four-Day Series final deserves to bask a bit.

“Attention has shifted to SA20 because of the influence the IPL owners have had on our game and just how T20 cricket has taken over the world,” said Lions captain Dominic Hendricks. “Unfortunately it has come at a bit of a cost, because we don’t get [to play] as many four-day games as we used to.”

Besides the role the diminished number of four-day matches has on player development, there is also the fact that for a player like Hendricks, January and the first half of February, which should be the height of the season, is time off.

“If you are not involved in the SA20 you are sitting at home. Our only game time has been playing club cricket throughout January.”

His opposite number at WP, Kyle Verreynne has sympathy for the obstacles Hendricks and others who don’t have SA20 contracts must endure. By contrast Verreynne had a busy January, playing a lively two-day Test against India at Newlands and then participating for the Pretoria Capitals in SA20. He had struggled upon his return to the SA Tests and faced criticism for his dismissals against India, but while Hendricks was idle, Verreynne rekindled form and confidence, in the high profile T20 League.

“For me, SA20 was quite a successful tournament, I took that form into the last few rounds of the red ball season.”

That the Four-Day Series is played in two parts and concludes with a final — which hasn’t been a regular feature in its history — adds to the sense that it’s a competition the authorities just want to get out of the way. Verreynne understands how difficult that can be.

“You play half of the campaign and then when you return for the second half, your squad is very different; there are injuries, new guys in form and there can be a whole different mojo,” said Verreynne.

The Lions selectors face a tricky task in sifting through the many options available to them for the final. They are likely to recall Proteas Test captain Temba Bavuma, who having faced Boland two weeks ago, then missed the victory over the Titans last week.