The "Shadow" South African League

[Goughy]

In County Cricket this season each County is allowed 1 Overseas player.

However, by my rough caluclations, there are 39 South Africans playing as non-overseas players. Despite mainly being born and raised in SA these players are playing as Kolpaks or EU passport holders.

Im not commenting on the rights or wrongs of the situation. Rather the large numbers.

Riki Wessels
Andrew Hall
Nicky Boje
Chad Keegan
Friedel de Wet
Andrew Strauss
Gareth Berg
Dawid Malan
Nick Compton
Boeta Dippenaar
Garnett Kruger
Claude Henderson
HD Ackerman
Francois du Plessis
Martin van Jaarsveld
Ryan McLaren
Justin Kemp
Neil Dexter
Nic Pothas
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Latouf
Michael Lumb
Grant Hodnett
Ryan ten Doeschate
Garry Park
Dale Benkenstein
Greg Smith
Jacques Rudolph
Deon Kruis
Stephen Moore
Jonathan Trott
Tim Groenewald
Neil Carter
Ant Botha
Matt Prior
Jade Dernbach
Charl Willoughby
Craig Kieswetter
Alexei Kervezee

You could make a pretty good "No Longer South African SA XI" from that list and there is a fair amount of depth

 

[Lillian Thomson]

With the Central Contract England players hardly playing any County Cricket and top overseas players only occasional dropping in for a month or two when they've got nothing else to do, players like Kemp and Rudolph are the main draw cards. Unfortunately for every one of that quality there's several third rate journeymen.

 

[chris.hinton]

Moore is not South African is he?

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Moore is not South African is he?

Yes.

 

[Goughy]

Moore is not South African is he?

Yup

Went to a very good school in Jo'burg as well as being born there.

 

[BoyBrumby]

It's obviously not great for South African cricket if these guys are unavailable to them, but as Harris showed the Kolpak status can be quickly revoked if international honours come knocking, so there's an argument it's just completing their cricketing education. It is certainly not good for England if the players who aren't registered as overseas aren't available to us tho. However, with guys like Trott & Pietersen (and probably McLaren in a year or two), who come over at a sufficiently early age with the full intention of qualifying for us (for whatever reason, and I'm not naive enough to think it's all for Queen and country) it's a boost to our playing stocks.

Not sure about the extent of the South Africanness of some on the list tho. It's a bit of a stretch to call Strauss SA-raised when he left for Melbourne when he was about six or seven. Prior's a borderline case, he came over in his early teens but has an English accent & Kervezee was raised in Holland, wasn't he?

 

[Goughy]

Not sure about the extent of the South Africanness of some on the list tho. It's a bit of a stretch to call Strauss SA-raised when he left for Melbourne when he was about six or seven. Prior's a borderline case, he came over in his early teens but has an English accent & Kervezee was raised in Holland, wasn't he?

A small number are borderline. There has to be that little grey area in anything.

The vast majority are born in SA and products of SA cricket.

 

[Langeveldt]

And still above England in both test and ODI cricket

 

[Perm]

Andrew Strauss
Boeta Dippenaar
Martin van Jaarsveld
Kevin Pietersen
Henry Ackerman (c)
Jacques Rudolph
Nic Pothas (wk)
Andrew Hall
Friedel de Wet
Garnett Kruger
Charl Willoughby

Would compete with most Tests sides IMO. Then you've still got plenty of others who'd still push for selection in Test sides around the world.

 

[Tim]

It's also something that's starting to occur in New Zealand too but on a much smaller scale.

Grant Elliott - Wellington
Johann Myburgh, Kruger van Wyk - Canterbury
Colin de Grandhomme (Zim) - Auckland

Plus a number of youth players who were born in S.A now playing in NZ..Bradley-John Watling, Greg Morgan, Derek de Boorder to name a few.

 

[Richard]

It's obviously not great for South African cricket if these guys are unavailable to them, but as Harris showed the Kolpak status can be quickly revoked if international honours come knocking, so there's an argument it's just completing their cricketing education. It is certainly not good for England if the players who aren't registered as overseas aren't available to us tho. However, with guys like Trott & Pietersen (and probably McLaren in a year or two), who come over at a sufficiently early age with the full intention of qualifying for us (for whatever reason, and I'm not naive enough to think it's all for Queen and country) it's a boost to our playing stocks.

It'd be fine if such non-national-team-bound players didn't have their incomes paid by income generated by Team England.

And as mentioned, the biggest problem comes not from the Pothases, Kemps, Rudolphs, etc. but the large number of rubbish players who cost far more and are little or no better than the far cheaper English types.

 

[Goughy]

And as mentioned, the biggest problem comes not from the Pothases, Kemps, Rudolphs, etc. but the large number of rubbish players who cost far more and are little or no better than the far cheaper English types.

I dont know where you get your info from, but foreign players are far cheaper than English ones. That is the problem.

For similar talent you pay far less.

 

[Richard]

How can you possibly pay less for someone for whom you have to arrange air-fares, accommodation etc. than someone from just up the road?

Also, some fellow (I forget the name) did his own mini piece of research, which he quoted in Wisden 1999, which showed imports of any kind (be they from overseas or another county) tend to get bigger wage-packets than locals, sometimes as much as twice the amount.

 

[Langeveldt]

How can you possibly pay less for someone for whom you have to arrange air-fares, accommodation etc. than someone from just up the road?
Also, some fellow (I forget the name) did his own mini piece of research, which he quoted in Wisden 1999, which showed imports of any kind (be they from overseas or another county) tend to get bigger wage-packets than locals, sometimes as much as twice the amount.

Easy.. I charge £3.50 an hour for my photography in South Africa.. £7.00 an hour in England.. I am still better off financially in South Africa..

The amount of money you have to pay someone varies massively depending on where they are based, air fares are an irrelevence..

 

[Richard]

Yeah, true that, dunno how that hadn't occurred to me as I'm more than versed in the vast difference between the rand and the pound (which, of course, is the biggest reason why we have so many SAfricans electing to play over here).

So we reckon what is untold riches for a SAfrican is nothing more than standard for a Brit?

 

[Langeveldt]

So we reckon what is untold riches for a SAfrican is nothing more than standard for a Brit?

Without doubt, although thats not the only reason people bare the misery of an English winter..

Put it this way, I take with me on a night out in South Africa, what I earn in an hour in England..

If I was to take my SA earnings on a night out in England, it would take me over two days to have enough money

 

[Goughy]

So we reckon what is untold riches for a SAfrican is nothing more than standard for a Brit?

It may be exaggerated and tongue in cheek, but its said a good County pro = 3 Kolpaks wage wise.

 

[Richard]

Right. But my comparison would be more average-poor English county pro to average-poor Kolpak\EU-passport, though good English county pro to good Kolpak (eg Rudolph) would also be an interesting comparison.

Surely the likes of Rudolph, Ackerman and Willoughby would cost far more (and remember, I'm not just talking wages, there's also air-fares, accomodation and whatever other costs are involved with imports) than the likes of Park and Hodnett?

 

[Langeveldt]

Yeah, but you could get someone like Rudolph for the same money as, say Steffan Jones

 

[Richard]

The height of absurdity, mefeels, has been reached with Leicestershire vs Northamptonshire starting on May 13th 2008. In this game there are ten South Africans - Ackerman, Dippenaar, du Toit, Henderson, du Preez, Boje, Klusener, van der Wath, Wessels and Hall. There is also a West Indian (Lawson) and an Australian (Allenby).

This means that 12 out of 22 players are not indiginously British or Irish.

I am not against alteration of nationality, far from it, but this is ridiculous.