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The T20 World Cup team of South Africa has not met the transformation targets set by the Cricket Association of South Africa (CSA). As a result, the board has acknowledged that its numerous initiatives over the years have not produced the desired outcomes, particularly with regard to producing Black African cricketers at the highest levels.
However, a board representative clarified that this would not include meddling in the selection process.
Only one player, Kagiso Rabada, is a black African out of the 15 players in the tentative team, which consists of six players of colour. The current CSA aim is for the national team to pitch six players of colour in a starting lineup on average over a season, with at least two of those players having to be black Africans. While they will have a chance to raise their average during the summer of 2024–2025, there are some who are concerned that South Africa will not be able to field two black African players in the T20 World Cup, even if players such as Reeza Hendricks, Bjorn Fortuin, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rabada, and Ottniel Baartman play every game.
Former CSA and ICC president Ray Mali criticised cricket on the national broadcaster, SABC, saying it was “reversing the gains of transformation” and that it was “going backwards” and “betraying the people who asked us to negotiate unity.” The ruling African National Congress secretary general, Fikile Mbalula, also criticised cricket, calling it a “reversal of the gains of transformation.”
In critiquing the squad selection process, Mali was especially harsh, arguing that the “system of giving a team for one person to select is not going to work in a country like ours” and urging the reinstatement of a selection panel.
White-ball coach Rob Walter was questioned over the squad composition when it was announced last month and at the time said his “number one imperative is to create a winning team”.
He blamed the domestic system for not providing enough depth to pick a more diverse squad. “The system needs to really up the ante so that in six months, 12 months, or two years’ time, and in particular when we reach the 2027 [ODI] World Cup at home, that the demographics and the representation in our team starts to look a bit different.”