Cricket SA will focus on ICC events after securing number one spot
Cricket SA acting CEO Jacques Faul says the national side will turn its focus to winning silverware as the Proteas celebrate securing the number one spot in the world rankings with their series victory over England.
South Africa completed a 2-0 series win to leapfrog England at the top of the test rankings. That number one spot is testament to the consistency of performance the Proteas have shown since head coach Gary Kirsten's appointment. "You have to be consistently competitive, and consistently perform well," said a delighted Faul. "Of course, people can perhaps say we consistently don't reach major finals, and consistently peak between two World Cups. So as much as we consistently perform well, we have to explore why we don't do it in ICC events. It will be great to sit down with rugby, where they've won the Rugby World Cup twice, and look at what they do differently."
All sports codes must engage
Faul has no intention of letting South African cricket rest on its laurels and aims to use October's Sport Industry Summit in Johannesburg as an opportunity to take lessons from South Africa's other sporting codes with the aim of ensuring success in ICC competitions and the further growth of the game. Faul and CSA have joined SA Rugby, led by CEO Jurie Roux, and the South African Football Association, led by CEO Robin Petersen, as founding supporters of the inaugural Sport Industry Summit in October, leading a debate on the state of sport in the country at the most influential business gathering in the history of sport in South Africa.
"I think it's important for all codes to engage with each other, and especially what we would consider the major three codes - rugby, cricket and soccer," continued Faul. "We have similar challenges and we also have the opportunity to benchmark ourselves and learn from the other codes." That includes discussions with soccer's authorities as cricket looks to take up an even more prominent role in the South African national psyche.
The administration of Cricket SA has had well-documented problems in previous years, but Faul believes that the organisation is better for them. "In my view we've come out stronger after our challenges. We believe we will be a better organisation for having gone through all of this."
