Quinton de Kock (Richard Huggard/Gallo Images)

• Cricket South Africa held a culture camp for South Africa’s top cricketers over the weekend.
• It was attended by members of the Proteas as well as players on the fringes of national selection.
• Proteas ODI captain, Quinton de Kock was excited at how the experience turned out for those who attended.

Proteas limited overs captain, Quinton de Kock has spoken out on the importance of the recent culture camp attended by 32 players including 16 members of the national team. 

De Kock said he was pleased that a number of up and coming cricketers from the high performance squad were able to attend.  

“I think it’s been really good. We’ve had a lot of good chats which I think the team needed. Everyone is leaving feeling a lot better about the environment and about themselves. A lot of guys got things off their back, it was something that this team needed.

“We feel a lot more comfortable as a team going forward, which was needed… we’re excited about going into the future now.”

De Kock said he felt it was important for youngsters to be exposed to the team’s environment before they are selected into the national team to avoid them feeling as though they need to play catch up once they finally arrive.

The 27-year-old wicket-keeper-batsman was pleased with the ease with which the new players integrated with the contracted squad as well as the regular features within the team and was even more impressed with the contribution they made in the important conversations that arose regarding the future of the team and its new identity.

“In this environment, even though you’re contracted it doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed to play, so I think it was important that the up and coming players needed to be there with the squad. This is professional sport and we’re trying to play the best team that we can. If a younger guy is performing and he gets an opportunity, it doesn’t help that he hasn’t been here and he doesn’t know anything.

“We’ve seen what they’ve done in the franchise system and we know there’s a potential future for them in the team, so it was important for them to come here. It was great to learn some views from the younger guys and help them understand the situation with the Proteas and how we want to go about things.” 

One of the main talking points of the camp was the team’s performance and how its newly established identity should influence how they go about their on-field work. De Kock is satisfied with the consensus reached as well as the plans that have been documented regarding the new Proteas’ way. He is confident that integrating the identified missing elements in their current style of play will yield positive results when international cricket resumes for South Africa.

“We are human and we make mistakes,” he continued.

“We’re trying to get better in what we’re doing in our professions, that’s why we got together. I can’t promise results but I can promise that we’ll get better and we are learning, which will give us the best chance of getting better results.

“We’ve realized we play a certain brand of cricket and that we are missing one or two elements in our game and we’ve come together and identified the areas we can be better at. We don’t want to change anything, just be better in certain elements in our game as Proteas in the way that we play our cricket. There’s a lot of new guys and guys are still learning which is why it was important for us to have these chats so they can learn about these things going forward,” De Kock concluded.

The camp was aimed at bringing together players as well as the coaching and support staff of the national and High-Performance teams to align on objectives and plot the road ahead with a new cricket season not too far from beginning. Topics under discussion included the Proteas’ team identity in their capacity as representatives of our diverse nation, the team environment as well as its performance both on and off the field.

– Cricket South Africa

PRO14 action between the Southern Kings and Connacht at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on 1 March 2020.

• The Southern Kings will will play no further part in the 2020 rugby season.
• This comes after the Kings board withdrew the team from participation in any domestic rugby competitions.
• The decision was made due to financial difficulties and the players were informed on Tuesday morning.

The Southern Kings will play no further part in the 2020 rugby season, SA Rugby confirmed on Tuesday.

This comes after the Eastern Cape franchise’s board withdrew the team from participation in any planned domestic rugby competitions.
 
The Kings players and staff were informed of the decision at 07:30 on Tuesday morning, following an urgent meeting of the board on Monday afternoon.

Andre Rademan, chairperson of the Southern Kings board, said the decision was taken reluctantly in the face of hard, financial realities.
 
“Following several weeks of interrogation of the Kings’ financial state of affairs we were left with a straightforward choice,” Rademan said in a press statement.
 
“We could opt to field the Kings in the domestic competitions mooted by SA Rugby for the sport’s post-lockdown resumption if we so wished.
 
“If we did so, it would require additional loans to the Kings or extra investment from the shareholders to the tune of R6.5m, which would add to the organisation’s existing substantial debt.
 
“However, as there was no contractual requirement for the Kings to resume short-term participation in the PRO14 competition, because of air travel restrictions, and as the Kings had no other commercial commitments to honour, the most prudent decision was to withdraw.
 
“This may not be a popular decision but in the current circumstances it is the right decision.”

READ | Cannabis and hemp farming… former CEO’s new vision for Southern Kings

The decision was supported by the executive committee of the Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU) and SA Rugby – the two shareholders in the Kings company.
 
Rademan added: “This is obviously very disappointing news for the players and management who, like all rugby professionals, were desperate to resume playing. But the board believed that further investment in 2020 with zero commercial return would be reckless in the extreme.”
 
Rademan said that with ongoing uncertainty about competition formats and travel restrictions into 2021, the board would now take time to reconsider its options and the ongoing financial challenges.
 
“As a board we had been considering further short-term contracts to see the squad through to the end of the year,” he said. “But it became apparent that we would, for want a better phrase, be throwing good money after bad in the current global environment.
 
“We now have time to consider what is the best way forward for rugby in the Eastern Province in this fluid and financially challenging environment.”
 
Rademan, who is also president of the EPRU, said further consultation would take place with the Kings staff in the coming weeks over the next steps for the team.
 
SA Rugby assumed management control of the Southern Kings, having taken back a 74% shareholding in the organisation, in partnership with the EPRU in June.
 
The move was made following the failure of the former majority shareholder, the Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World (GRC), to meet its financial commitments relating to the acquisition of the shareholding.
 
Southern Kings timeline:

– November 2010: SA Rugby announces intention to field the Southern Kings in Super Rugby in 2013.
– February 2013: Kings compete in the Super Rugby competition as one of five South African teams.
– August 2013: Kings lose place in Super Rugby in a two-legged play off against the Lions.
– November 2015: SA Rugby takes control of the franchise when the EPRU, to whom the operation of the franchise had been granted, ran into financial trouble.
– February 2016: Kings return to Super Rugby when the competition expands to 18 teams.
– April 2017: Sanzaar announces that Super Rugby will contract from 18 teams to 15 teams in 2018.
– September 2017: The Kings (and Cheetahs) are included as South Africa’s ground-breaking representatives in the PRO14 competition.
– January 2019: GRC acquires 74% shareholding in the franchise; EPRU retain a 26% shareholding.
– June 2020: SA Rugby resumes control of the Southern Kings following the failure of GRC to meet contractual commitments.
– August 2020: Southern Kings withdrawn from potential domestic competition resumption because of on-going financial challenges.

– Compiled by Sport24 staff

Zak Crawley clapped off the field by the Pakistan fielders (Getty)

Zak Crawley said he “couldn’t have dreamed for a better score” after converting his maiden Test hundred into a superb innings of 267 against Pakistan at Southampton on Saturday before England great James Anderson rocked the tourists with a late treble strike.

SCOREBOARD: England v Pakistan – 3rd Test, Day 2

Crawley and Jos Buttler, who made 152, shared a stand of 359 that powered England to 583-8 declared on the second day of the third Test.

England, 1-0 up in a three-match contest and looking for a first series win over Pakistan in a decade, then saw Anderson reduce the tourists to 24-3 at the close — a deficit of 559 runs — as he moved to within four of becoming the first paceman to take 600 wickets in Tests.

“I couldn’t have dreamed for a better score I’m absolutely delighted and we’re in a very good position with Jimmy at the end there,” Crawley told Sky Sports.

Pakistan’s Shan Masood was plumb lbw for four to Anderson before fellow opener Abid Ali (one) edged low to Dom Sibley at third slip.

And with what became the last ball of the day, Anderson had star batsman Babar Azam lbw for 11 with one that cut back to finish with stumps figures of 3-13 in 5.5 overs.

Pakistan batsman Fawad Alam, however, insisted that “we don’t think the match has finished”.

“We will fight it out and if we get two big innings everything will change. It’s cricket and we are a fighting unit that can do that.”

England’s total was their highest in Tests since they made 589-8 declared against Pakistan at Old Trafford four years ago.

Three of Pakistan’s frontline bowlers conceded over 100 runs each, with leg-spinner Yasir Shah (2-173 from 39 overs) and teenage paceman Naseem Shah (1-109 in 27) both going for more than four an over. 

Crawley’s innings was the seventh highest maiden hundred in 143 years of Test-match cricket and the 10th highest score by any England batsman.

“It’s very humbling indeed, I don’t see myself anywhere near their calibre but hopefully I can build on this,” said Crawley.

His partnership with Buttler was also a new England fifth-wicket record in Tests, surpassing the 254 shared by Keith Fletcher and Tony Greig against India at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in February 1973.

“Jos was exactly the right man at the other end, telling me to calm down,” said Crawley. “He played better than me today, he was flawless.”

One of the few false shots of his innings saw Crawley go to 200 when he edged a four past second slip off Naseem.

But he still received applause from his team-mates in a match being played behind closed doors because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The 22-year-old Crawley was the seventh England batsman to turn his maiden Test hundred into a double century and the first since Rob Key against the West Indies at Lord’s in 2004. 

Earlier, Buttler completed just the second hundred of his 47-match Test career and first as a wicketkeeper.

Crawley lofted Yasir over long-off for six before a clipped boundary off Mohammad Abbas saw him to 250.

But his near 10-hour innings end when he was stumped down the legside by Mohammad Rizwan off part-time spinner Asad Shafiq. Crawley faced 393 balls, hitting 34 fours and one six.

Together with Buttler, he had taken England from 127-4 to 486-5 against an increasingly ragged Pakistan.

World Cup-winner Buttler saw his seven-and-a-half-hour innings — the longest of his career — end tamely when he chipped a gentle return catch to Alam, another occasional spinner.

England resumed Saturday in a commanding position at 332-4.

Crawley was 171 not out, in his eighth Test, with Buttler unbeaten on 87.

Buttler, one ball after successfully reviewing a decision to give him out caught behind on 99, punched seamer Abbas through point to complete a 189-ball hundred with 10 fours and two sixes. 

It was just the 29-year-old’s second century in 47 Tests following his 106 against India at Nottingham two years ago.