S Africa calls for its players to stay

[S.Kennedy]

I think Abott made the decision months ago when he was getting very little game time so it would have been an easy choice.

Since he has been getting more chances I assume he was having doubts. So I assume that is why Hampshire leaked this info to the media to put pressure on him.

...and remaining silent, so something is going on behind the scenes?

Seems plausible.

Watch this space as they say

 

[Marius]

I think Abott made the decision months ago when he was getting very little game time so it would have been an easy choice.

Since he has been getting more chances I assume he was having doubts. So I assume that is why Hampshire leaked this info to the media to put pressure on him.

Yes, I read something similar. Perhaps Hampshire thinks he's getting cold feet and decided to try force the issue by leaking this to the media.

 

[Marius]

Can't feed your family with pride. Much less likely to be robbed, raped and/or murdered in England, as well.

Cute.

 

[S.Kennedy]

I have it on good authority that the chairman of Hampshire, Bransgrove, is a wanker.

 

[Furball]

All you need to do is play a few Bashy Bashy competitions. Pays more than County Cricket anyway and it will probably not impede your ability to turn out for your country since there is enough of them around.

Big Bash and New Zealand's competition are off limits as long as he plays for South Africa because they clash with the South African domestic season.
He's apparently been dropped by his IPL side. He could re-enter the auction but there's a risk he won't get picked up.
He'll earn less in England as a T20 player than on a Kolpak deal
That leaves the Carribean, Pakistan and Bangladesh tournaments. Two of those involve personal security risks and I can't see a stint in the West Indies paying more than County Cricket.

There's absolutely no guarantees for Abbott if he goes down that route. Whereas if he signs for Hampshire he gets £100k a year, guaranteed for 3 years. It's the latter part of that sentence that's the big attraction.

 

[Fred Tetanus]

I'll bet you a hundred bucks you're banned before the end of today.............I'm out of here before I am too.

Guess you were wrong about that. Oh well.

 

[Marius]

Guess you were wrong about that. Oh well.

Are you more of a tool in real life, or less of one?

 

[Fred Tetanus]

Are you more of a tool in real life, or less of one?

Someone practically begged the moderators to ban me for trying to bring some intelligence to the discussion and I'm the tool? Cool story bro, needs more dragons!

 

[Noah]

Levi plays T20 for Cobras but because of quotas he is not picked in the first class xl for them.So on paper it sounds nice,but doesn't always work out that way.He did play for the Masters Championship as a retired player,which looks like its gone belly up.Read somewhere he wants to play for England, he plays in all 3 forms.
Abbott got dropped by his IPL club so thats 1 source of income he has lost.
In reality kolpak players,it depends on their club and what selection policy they have to whether they get a game or not.
Hope that helps Honest Bharani.

Levi was also just a mediocre player in the longer forms. Quotas may have been the final nail in his coffin but I'm fairly certain his disappearance has more to do with people giving up on the dream of him turning into a David Warner or Alex Hales type player.

 

[Rasimione]

If not for injuries Ngam would have had a long Test career, and Monde Zondeki certainly wasn't terrible.

Tsotsobe also wasn't the worst and could have been much better but for his weight and disciplinary issues. Was also lots of potential in Tsolekile I think.

From what i saw of Ngam, he would have been the real deal. He really worked hard to get fit but his body couldn't take it.

 

[Rasimione]

But who out of the black guys playing now could survive in Test cricket?

Phehlukwayo maybe, Mosehle's keeping perhaps, but not his batting.

Zondo's been in good form, but he's not Test quality.

Ngidi from the Titans will be knocking on the door next season I reckon.

How's that Lesiba Ngoepe guy doing? Mosehle needs to do a lot more.

 

[SeamUp]

Hammer blow this. We've lost some SA 'A' talent but this is Protea and world class ability in both players.

Abbott, Rossouw exits to rock SA cricket

Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw look certain to be lost to South African cricket.

Independent Media understands that Cricket South Africa have been in urgent discussions with both players’ representatives over the past 48 hours, to see if there is a way to reverse what would be a double hammer blow to the country.
Politics and sport are uncomfortable bedfellows, but South African cricket looks set to suffer the implications of Brexit, with fears that the employment door may be harder to break down in future. That has forced players in their prime – but on the fringes of their national team – to weigh up their options immediately.

The lure of the British pound, coupled with the uncertainty of their respective futures, looks like they have convinced two of South Africa’s most potent Protea talents across the pond. And there may be precious little that their current employers can do about it.

Unlike their rugby counterparts, cricket has strict rules about players plying their trade elsewhere. A Kolpak deal requires a player to retire from international cricket, and had been seen as an option at the end of players’ careers.

With their national contracts ending in April, both men were in a position to start negotiating their future, and Abbott is understood to have entered talks with Hampshire before his successful tour of Australia.

“It would be sad to see him leave,” Kagiso Rabada said on Wednesday evening of his Proteas pace chum Abbott.

The saddest part of the matter is that after an often tortured past in green and gold, Abbott was in the midst of his finest international hour. It seems the scars of that 2015 World Cup semi-final, as well as countless other occasions when Abbott was seen as the easy option to drop, have been the telling factor.

The news of his Hampshire offer broke on the second day of the ongoing Test, but Abbott is understood to have explained his situation to the team before then to put them in the picture. Cricket South Africa (CSA) have been urgently trying to find a way to reverse the situation, but it seems that his head was turned even before he left for Australia in November.

Abbott didn’t take the decision to be left out of the opening Test in Perth very well, and there were still significant calls for Morné Morkel to be recalled ahead of him before the Hobart Test. With South African cricket not always showing him the love he craved, and perhaps deserved, it seems that Abbott sought someone who would show him the money.

Abbott, 29, has a three-year deal on the table from county outfit Hampshire – worth over £500 000 (about R9 million) in total – with the option of a fourth year, and a national contract doesn’t quite match those numbers, even with match fees and bonuses.

Abbott, who was recently released by his IPL franchise, could also supplement his income with stints in the soon-to-be revamped T20 Challenge in South Africa, or even the Big Bash League in Australia.

The even more startling news is that of Rossouw, who has also been allegedly convinced to pack in an international career that looked to be just blossoming into its full potential, injuries notwithstanding.

South African cricket bosses would arguably be even more disappointed in the Knights batsman, perhaps, as they have stood by him through several injuries, and he had even retained his place ahead of veteran Hashim Amla in recent months – a sure sign of the faith they have in his undoubted abilities.

Both Abbott and Rossouw, 27, had spoken with beaming pride about representing their country only recently, though they had endured personal heartache along the way. But, it seems, every man and his priorities has a price.

The double loss blows a cavernous hole into the Proteas’ plans for the tour of New Zealand and England, as well as the Champions Trophy in late May, where both men were expected to play significant roles in a challenge for a major ICC trophy.

CSA are expected to respond to the double whammy at the conclusion of the second Test at Newlands, which is likely to be around lunch on Thursday.

 

[SeamUp]

From what i saw of Ngam, he would have been the real deal. He really worked hard to get fit but his body couldn't take it.

He was top class. Swinging at pace. Bubblegum was a treat to watch. Him and Brett Schultz bodies letting them down were hugely frustrating.

 

[kykweer.proteas]

It is technically easier for Abott to make the test team than to play for his own domestic franchise.

 

[S.Kennedy]

A typical Test career these days seems to be to retire from Test Cricket before becoming a globe-trotting Twenty20 merchant. Could Abbot not pursue this course? If you desire the longer form and/or County Cricket (a worthwhile pursuit) you can still do this: Sangakkara plays for Surrey and does the T20 franchises; Kane Williamson picks up the odd First-Rate game for Yorkshire.

 

[Furball]

Abbott's IPL franchise dropped him.

He won't make the money touring the T20 leagues he would for Hampshire.

 

[Noah]

He was top class. Swinging at pace. Bubblegum was a treat to watch. Him and Brett Schultz bodies letting them down were hugely frustrating.

Sad too because apparently Ngam's injuries were partially a result of over training.

 

[Noah]

It is technically easier for Abott to make the test team than to play for his own domestic franchise.

How do you figure that? Lower level of competition makes it far easier to gain a spot with the Warriors than the national team. Quotas are the same at both levels too - 5 places available for non-coloured players.

 

[kykweer.proteas]

How do you figure that? Lower level of competition makes it far easier to gain a spot with the Warriors than the national team. Quotas are the same at both levels too - 5 places available for non-coloured players.

Well at franchise level the quota is 6 non white players and 2 of those have to be "black". And black players generally bowl.

Even Merchant de lange who has a CSA contract has to sit out the odd game.

 

[Stefan9]

During the last pink day ODI, in an interview Chris Morris said he would donate his match fee of 50K. Thats quite a bit of money. So international players surely earn a decent amount

Chris Morris has been bought for $625 000 and $1mil at IPL auctions. Along with David Miller they are very unlikely to be tempted by county contracts as long as they feel they still have a protea chance. They don't need the money as they earn enough from IPL. Abbot doesn't have the big IPL deals to compensate for any issues on the international scene.