Cape Town – On Friday, Proteas veteran JP Duminy announced that he will be retiring from ODI cricket at the end of this year’s World Cup in England.

He is not the only one.

Imran Tahir is in the same boat, while it is hard to see Dale Steyn or Hashim Amla playing any 50-over cricket beyond 2019, either. 

It would be poetic if South Africa could end an era that saw them produce such quality players with a World Cup win, but Duminy knows that there are no guarantees. 

With 193 ODIs to his name and this, his third World Cup campaign, he believes that anything that happens before the 10 competing sides set foot in England will not count for a whole lot.

The Proteas are still finalising a few key positions in their World Cup squad, but a 4-0 series lead against Sri Lanka going into Saturday’s fifth and final ODI in Cape Town suggests they are in good touch. 

A look at how Sri Lanka have played their cricket throughout the course of the series, however, suggests that these returns should be digested with a dose of perspective. 

Skipper Faf du Plessis has won over most cricketing critics in these parts, and he will lead a Proteas side that boasts experience, youth, fearlessness and, most importantly, ability in abundance at this year’s showpiece. 

Yet, despite the known qualities of the individuals in the set-up, the Proteas are nowhere near favourites going into the competition. 

That honour seems to be shared between hosts England and Virat Kohli’s India, while the bookies also have Australia ahead of the Proteas following their recent heroics in India.

Kepler Wessels, Hansie Cronje, Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers … they have all set out to create history and come back empty handed. 

Why, then, would it be any different for Du Plessis this time around? 

The Proteas class of 2019 is looking to control only what they can. 

“We are going with a more relaxed feel and it’s not that it’s an easy way out. It’s more that we’re going to give our best … at the end of the day, that’s all we can do,” were Duminy’s words when addressing media at Newlands on Friday ahead of what will be his last ODI in South Africa. 

If history has taught us anything, it is that form and favourites tags count for very little when attempting to predict South Africa’s chances at a World Cup.

There are moments that all of the planning in the world will not be able to prepare them for. Instead, it is about what clicks on the day and what doesn’t. 

“There are no guarantees of what success looks like,” Duminy said.

“We are going there to have fun and give our best whether it’s in our practices, at gym, on the field, individually … but it doesn’t guarantee you anything and that’s the beauty of this tournament.

“You can go as favourites or ranked eighth in the world, but it’s about what you produce on the day and that’s the most important thing.

“If we can produce our best effort every single day then that’s going to give us the best chance.”

Saturday will see the Proteas play their last ODI before they must settle on their 15-man World Cup squad. 

The time for preparation is very nearly over. 

“Yes, these games build towards that, but in the greater scheme of things how much does that matter?” Duminy posed.

“We can lose a series 5-0 going into a World Cup and everyone will say we’ve got no chance, and we could end up winning it.

“There is just no way of knowing what is going to happen … you’ve got to go out there and believe in the team you’re walking out onto the park with.

“It’s not necessarily the amount of cricket you play. I think it’s just the mindset that you’re in. From a mental perspective, I think the team and everybody is in a really good space. That’s the important thing going into a World Cup.”

The 5th ODI at Newlands on Saturday starts at 13:00.

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Cape Town – There were tears of joy and broad smiles, as well as a sense of relief in the Springbok Sevens camp following their tournament win in Canada this weekend, which came just at the right time for the Blitzboks to gain momentum for the rest of the World Rugby Sevens Series.

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Siviwe Soyizwapi, who had the honour of captaining the Blitzboks in their final two matches of the Canada Sevens in BC Place on Sunday after Philip Snyman was ruled out due to injury, said they felt a lot of mixed emotions in Vancouver.

“We needed this victory,” said Soyizwapi.

“We are rebuilding the squad and it was such a relief for us to get back to winning ways. This win was building and building, and it was just reward for the hard work.

“This win was very emotional for us as we worked so hard the last couple of weeks. We have smiles on the faces now as the massive efforts got reward. It was a perfect weekend where so many things came together for us, guys trusting and backing each other, all buying to the game plan and the squad working as brothers.”

Soyizwapi was “super happy” with the victory, but also the way the team delivered on Sunday: “We trained hard to play a certain way and it came off, the guys played like we know we can. This is a great result for us going forward.

Another Blitzbok stalwart, Werner Kok, said the win was not only important for the team.

“This is for everyone involved with the team as well, including our supporters – we almost took winning for granted and this is such a nice feeling to win again,” said Kok, who also praised the role of the SA Rugby Sevens Academy, with the likes of Impi Visser, JC Pretorius, Sako Makata and Kurt-Lee Arendse all graduating into Blitzboks this year.

“The guys in the Academy work just as hard as us. They keep competition as healthy as it could be and this win belongs to them too.

“It is important for the next group of players to take the flag and run with it. Nothing lasts forever and we must use every opportunity to play for this team and our country. You must be prepared to make sacrifices for this team and the guys showed that this weekend.”

Kok endorsed the younger players: “They did well and grabbed the opportunity. Look at Stedman Gans, he was given the starting role and he was phenomenal.”

The team will arrive back in Cape Town Wednesday.

Cape Town – Justin Harding won his maiden title on the European Tour after carding a final round 66 at the Qatar Masters on Sunday.

The South African made three early birdies to claim a share of the lead at the Doha Golf Club, but dropped down the field after two bogey. Meanwhile South Korea’s Jinho Choi notched a 64 to claim the clubhouse lead at 11-under-par.

Making his 54th start on the European Tour, Harding brought himself back in contention with a pair of birdies after the turn and then moved into a two-shot lead with birdies on three of his last four holes.

The clubhouse leader at 13-under, Harding had a nervous wait for the chasing pack to finish, with nine players tied for second at one point.

“It feels good. It was nerve wracking, especially coming off, it’s a situation I haven’t really been in. I didn’t enjoy it but it’s good fun, I’m glad it happened and now we move on,” he told the media after his round.

“I get into the events that I’d like to be into again, the schedules change, I’m no longer having to pick and choose. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens going forward and playing in some bigger events.”

Choi started the day seven shots off the lead, but notched a 31 over the first time to surge through the field, with birdies on the 12th and 18th securing him a tie for second.

Anton Karlsson (69) claimed a share of the lead after birdies on one, seven and 10, while Nacho Elvira (70) also birdied the 10th to claim a share of the lead.

Karlsson then dropped shots on 13 and 14, and although he recovered with birdies on 16 and 18, it wasn’t enough to match Harding’s late charge. Elviro also birdied the final hole but a bogey on the 17th brought an end to the Spaniard’s chanes.

George Coetzee (68) eagled the final hole to join the chasing pack on 11-under, while Christiaan Bezuidenhout (68), Jorge Campillo (68), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (70), Erik van Rooyen (70) and overnight leader Oliver Wilson (71) completed the nine-way tie for second.

One shot further behind was Thomas Detry (70), Andy Sullivan (68) and Fabrizio Zanotti (68).

Paris – UEFA on Thursday announced they were opening an investigation into whether or not Manchester City broke Financial Fair Play rules, a breach that could lead to a devastating Champions League ban.

However, English champions City insisted the accusations against them are false and that they welcomed the opportunity to clear their name.

German magazine Der Spiegel, using material purportedly obtained from the whistleblowing outlet Football Leaks, alleged in November that City had set up sponsorship deals to circumvent regulations limiting how much money owners can put into a club.

“The Investigatory Chamber of the independent UEFA Club Financial Control Body has today opened a formal investigation into Manchester City FC for potential breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations,” said a UEFA statement on Thursday.

“The investigation will focus on several alleged violations of FFP that were recently made public in various media outlets.”

City responded immediately by saying they supported the investigation and that they had nothing to hide.

“Manchester City welcomes the opening of a formal UEFA investigation as an opportunity to bring to an end the speculation resulting from the illegal hacking and out of context publication of City emails,” the club said in a statement.

“The accusation of financial irregularities are entirely false. The club’s published accounts are full and complete and a matter of legal and regulatory record.”

City had earlier responded to Der Spiegel’s claims by saying there had been an “organised and clear” attempt to damage the club’s reputation.

A ban from UEFA competitions, including the Champions League, is a potential punishment if City are found guilty of FFP breaches.

City were fined €60 million and subjected to squad, wage and spending caps in a 2014 settlement agreed with UEFA following a previous breach of the rules.

City coach Pep Guardiola has always insisted that City would accept a ban but does not believe it is likely after discussions with the club’s UAE owners.

“We will not be banned, no. That’s what I think because I trust in my chairman, with my CEO, what they have explained to me,” he said.

“If it happens, because UEFA decide that, we will accept it and move forward.”

City are not the only European heavyweight to be caught up in claims of breaking financial fair play rules.

French champions Paris Saint-Germain quashed reports they could be forced to sell either Kylian Mbappe or Neymar in a bid to circumvent eventual FFP sanctions.

Qatar-owned PSG, who splashed a combined total of more than €400 million in 2017 for Brazil star Neymar and France World Cup winner Mbappe, blasted allegations as “totally false and ridiculous”.

Former European champions AC Milan were warned in December that they risk being excluded from European competition if they fail to “break even”.

Milan had already been banned for a year from the Europa League due to breaching FFP regulations before winning an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last year.

But UEFA said the former seven-time European champions again face suspension from continental competition in future seasons “should the club not be break-even compliant at 30 June 2021”.

Cape Town – SA Rugby can no longer afford to compete with European markets when it comes to securing the services of the country’s top rugby players. 

That is the major reason behind the announcement a new contracting model announced last week, and Bok coach and Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus helped explain the process at his first press conference of the 2019 World Cup year in Cape Town on Tuesday. 

Erasmus knows that it is not sustainable to keep South Africa’s top players in the country given the current economic climate. 

So, from next year, SA Rugby will no longer break the bank to keep the Eben Etzebeth’s, Pieter-Steph du Toit’s, Siya Kolisi’s and Malcolm Marx’s of the world in South Africa.

Instead, those players will be allowed to take more lucrative deals up north and the money SA Rugby saves on them will be filtered back into the South African system to broaden the player pool from the bottom, up. 

It is a decision, Erasmus says, that will help with South African rugby implementing a sustainable succession plan. 

“Succession planning in South Africa is something that we’ve struggled to do because it’s cut-throat and you’re not sure how many players you are going to lose at the end of the year,” he said.

“Clubs on the other side (Europe, Japan) don’t always have a business model. It’s a rich owner and he can spend that money whether that player is worth it or not.

“If we try and compete with that all the time we will just exhaust our budget and our succession planning on this side will just be impossible.”

It means the previous model which saw the unions and SA Rugby both digging into the coffers to keep their biggest names from cashing in for a superior currency overseas. 

“We just can’t bat in that league anymore,” Erasmus said.

“Those guys just have too much money and the more we try and talk around that, the more we get ourselves into a corner.

“We want to keep players for R8, R9 or R10 million a year and if you keep four players, you’re close to R40 million. Some of our union’s entire budgets are R60 million.

“You give money to four players and then you must still try and build a squad around that. If one or two of those players get injured, then half of your budget is gone.”

Instead of solidifying the services of the country’s best, SA Rugby will now look to tie down a broader pool of players with potential.

“We’re going to try and spread our money through more players. If a big-name player leaves, his money becomes available and we start putting it into the bottom of our system,” Erasmus said.

“I’ve already sat with seven or eight guys and made them offers. If they don’t accept it, then that money gets put back into the system.

“We’ll look at who our first-choice 30 are and hopefully we can sign all of them and they will take less money to stay in South Africa, but that’s not living in the real world.”

The new system seeks to rank South African players by position, and that will serve as the measure of who gets offered what money. 

At this stage, it is not exactly clear what that ranking system will look like, because some players who have been offered contracts have not yet accepted or rejected those deals. 

“There is the ranking system, but it can change,” Erasmus said.

“Our succession plan will work closely with the unions. We might invest into a guy who plays at the Cheetahs and is fourth-choice, but in 2023 he might be first-choice and we can keep him in the system.

“We’re probably only going to reap the benefits of this in two or three years’ time and take a bit of a knock now post-World Cup, but in any case you usually take a knock after a World Cup.”

The new system will also see the enforcement of Regulation 9, which means that the Boks can demand that overseas clubs release their South African players during international windows. 

“Regulation 9 is there to make sure that all countries can compete and stay relevant on the world scene and unfortunately with our exchange rate we are one of those countries now,” the coach said.

“Up until now there has been give or take. From 2020, we’re giving the clubs time and telling them that we’re going to enforce Regulation 9 because we’ve made the decision now that we can’t pay people at that level.

“That gives the club time to consider if it would be worth signing the player and it would give the player time to consider if he wants to go there. It’s about being proactive and warning the clubs, not playing hard-ball. It’s not a threat, it’s just a reality.

“We are paying money that we can’t afford and it’s irresponsible and we are giving players false hope and crazy money for where they are not yet.”