The Warriors, a provincial cricket team from Gqeberha, have been excluded from the domestic one-day cup playoffs. This is a result of a points deduction for not adhering to Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) transformation policies.
During a match against the Dolphins on February 16th, the Warriors fielded only two black African players, falling short of the required three. They did not provide any prior explanation or request for an exemption. Consequently, they were penalized five points, the points they earned for winning that game. This penalty dropped them from third to fourth place in the standings, costing them a playoff qualification.
The Dolphins, their opponents in the match, were awarded four points, elevating them to second place, ahead of the Titans. As a result, the Dolphins will now host the playoff match against the Titans on Wednesday. The winner will then face Boland in the final on Sunday. Prior to the sanction, the Titans were in second place and were scheduled to host the Warriors for the playoff.
CSA officially confirmed the sanction on Monday, releasing a statement that also included a monetary fine of an undisclosed amount. According to the statement, half of the fine is due before the end of the current financial year, while the remaining half is suspended for five years, contingent on no further breaches occurring within that period.
The Warriors now find themselves at the bottom of the combined standings, which considers performances across first-class, one-day, and T20 cricket. This puts them at risk of being relegated to the second division of South African provincial cricket. The lowest-ranked team in Division One is automatically relegated, while the top team from Division Two is promoted.
Teams failing to meet transformation targets without a valid reason are required to explain themselves to the CSA board. In this case, the Warriors presented their case to the CSA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) commission. Reportedly, the Warriors justified their team selection based on ‘cricketing reasons’. However, the DEI commission decided to impose a sanction, deducting points from the Warriors and awarding them to the Dolphins.
Notification of the points deduction was given to teams on Sunday evening, three weeks after the incident and just two days before the playoffs were scheduled to begin. The reason for this delay is unclear, and it appears that not everyone within CSA was initially aware of the points change. Earlier on Monday, CSA’s own website incorrectly listed the Titans and Warriors as playoff participants, while the points table distributed by CSA’s statistics team confirmed the updated standings and the penalty against the Warriors. The note stated that Warriors were penalized 5 points for breaching the requirement of fielding at least three Black African players against Dolphins on February 16th, and Dolphins were awarded 4 points.
While there is no formal appeals process for these sanctions, it has been reported that the Warriors have sent a legal letter to CSA to challenge the punishment. However, a reversal is considered unlikely, especially as the Dolphins are already advertising the playoff match at their home venue. Furthermore, all teams, including the Warriors, agreed to CSA’s administrative conditions at the beginning of the season, which include the implementation of transformation targets. These targets have been in place each season since their re-introduction in 2013.
CSA’s transformation policy mandates that domestic teams field six players of color per XI, with a minimum of three being black African. This differs from the national team’s target, which requires an average of six players of color, including at least two black African players, over the season, providing more flexibility. A similar average-based system was considered for domestic teams in 2018 but was rejected in favor of stricter game-by-game targets.
This is not the first time a team has missed the target, particularly this season. In 2019, the Cape Cobras were not sanctioned for missing the target after providing explanations to CSA. This season, Titans, North West, Lions, and Western Province also failed to field the required number of black African players on at least one occasion. However, in each of these instances, the teams contacted CSA, received permission for the deviation, and agreed to compensate by fielding an extra black African player in a future match.
Sources indicate that obtaining an exemption from CSA for legitimate reasons, such as injuries, is generally straightforward. However, the Warriors did not cite injuries and instead attributed their team selection to strategic choices. Tactical team selection is not considered a valid justification for failing to meet transformation targets.
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