CSA 4 Day Series: Two Highlights of the Season & Best Players

The Titans are the 2021/22 CSA 4-Day Series champions. The Titans, the Warriors and the Lions were all in contention to win the tournament going into the final fixtures of the season. On the final day of the last fixture, the Titans were confirmed as the champions after beating the Lions in Centurion. While on the other hand, the Warriors’ last fixture was almost rained out in Bloemfontein and resulted in a draw.  

picks out the Two Highlights of the Season & Best Players. 

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The Return of Kolpaks

It’s hard to overlook the impact that the return of Kolpaks has had on SA domestic cricket. There’s no looking past the skill they brought and the wealth of knowledge they have passed onto the young talented cricketers in our setup. 

One that stands out for me, even though there’s more, is the impact of having a Heino Kuhn in the North West Dragons team. I am not insinuating that youngsters did not have it in them to perform and grow this season. I am not saying that Kuhn up skilled the youngsters in the Dragons team. But certainly, a  youngster like Lesego Senokwane would’ve learned a lot from sharing a dressing room with an experienced professional of Kuhn’s calibre. 

I’m not only talking about skill and how to hit or bowl cricket balls. I’m talking about learning and understanding what it means and what it takes to be a successful professional sportsman. In this regard, the return of Kuhn, Simon Harmer, Wayne Parnell, Kyle Abbott, Hardus Viljoen and all the other ‘Kolpaks’  has been incredibly good for our domestic setup.

Division One & Two

Cricket South Africa moved on from the Franchise era and introduced a new domestic structure this season. This structure meant that 4 Day cricket would be played in both divisions and the ‘old’ 3-Day games of semi-pro were no more. 

The fact that 4 Day cricket was played in both divisions, by teams with a First Class status and those without it, breathed life into South African cricket. Smaller unions now had the spotlight that they deserved and played against bigger and well-known teams/unions. It was clear to see the impact of this new structure in that we saw new talents that perhaps wouldn’t have been unearthed had the Franchise structure still been in place. 

The talent pool for red-ball cricket widened and strengthened this season in a way that SA Cricket needed it to.

Standard of Cricket

The standard of cricket that was played this season was incredible. It showed in how closely contested the competition was in that the winner could only be confirmed on the final day of the last 4 Day fixture. The way that Marco Jansen,  Keegan Petersen, Kyle Verreynne and Sarel Erwee excelled in international cricket this season is a testament to the standard of our domestic cricket because all these cricketers went straight from the 4 Day competition into Test cricket. 

Moments of Brilliance

Batting 

– Khaya Zondo’s 203* off 299 

– Pieter Malan’s 219* off 438 

Bowling 

– Simon Harmer’s 10-225 

– Kyle Simmonds’ 10-202

4 Day Series Team Of The Season

1. Pieter Malan (c) 

Runs 601 Avg 120.20 HS 219* 

2. Joshua Richards 

Runs 596 Avg 55.11 HS 151 

3. Lesiba Ngoepe 

Runs 443 Avg 36.92 HS 88 

4. David Bedingham 

Runs 509 Avg 63.63 HS 199 

5. Ryan Rickelton (wk) 

Runs 497 Avg 82.83 HS 159 

6. Rudi Second 

Runs 398 Avg 49.75 HS 120 

7. Ayabulela Gqamane 

Batting: Runs Avg HS 

Bowling: Wkts Avg BI 

8. Kyle Simmonds  

Wkts 33 Avg 26.00 BI 6-109 

9. Simon Harmer 

Wkts 44 Avg 19.29 BI 7-76 

10. Lutho Sipamla 

Wkts 17 Avg 20.00 BI 6-34 

11. Duanne Olivier 

Wkts 29 Avg 14.93 BI 5-53