simon harmer

Simon Harmer of the Jozi Stars celebrates with the trophy after winning the 2018 Mzansi Super League Final between Cape Town Blitz and Jozi Stars at Newlands Cricket Ground on 16 December 2018 © Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix

CSA and SABC extend Mzansi Super League Broadcast Deal

MSL 2.0 will run from Friday, 8 November 2019, when the defending champions, the Jozi Stars, will take on last year’s runners up, Cape Town Blitz, until the grand final scheduled for Monday, 16 December 2019.

simon harmer

Simon Harmer of the Jozi Stars celebrates with the trophy after winning the 2018 Mzansi Super League Final between Cape Town Blitz and Jozi Stars at Newlands Cricket Ground on 16 December 2018 © Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix

Cricket Fans were given a huge boost ahead of the second edition of the Mzansi Super League (MSL 2.0) when Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) announced that the SABC will again hold the exclusive broadcasting rights in South Africa for this year’s tournament.

All matches will be broadcast live on the free-to-air service.

“A key aspect of our vision for South African cricket is to make the game accessible to all and the SABC platforms make this very possible,” commented CSA Chief Executive Thabang Moroe. “Going this route last season was a huge success and this was reflected by the official viewership figures throughout the tournament.

“Virtually all the games will be shown at peak viewing times. The day-night games will all start at 17h30, the Saturday game at 12h30 and the Sunday double-headers at 10h00 and 14h00 respectively. This should all make for great family entertainment.”

SABC3 TV and Radio 2000 will provide live coverage of all matches and there will be further coverage on SABC’s various radio platforms.

The SABC’s Acting Chief Operations Officer, Ms Sylvia Tladi, enthusiastically endorsed the deal. “The SABC is proud of its partnership with CSA to exclusively broadcast the popular and ground-breaking Mzansi Super League for a 2nd year in a row. As a public broadcaster, we are looking forward to once again demonstrating the power of our brands, which are able to truly bring the nation together through a sport that touches on every fibre of our diversity, while building national access to the exciting game of cricket.

“We invite our audiences and commercial partners to join us as we launch an exciting summer spectacle and to stay tuned into the SABC, for the best of MSL cricket stars, family excitement and a new standard of entertainment and South African camaraderie through sport.”

Gwavu: MSL 2.0 will be tougher for champions

Jozi Stars assistant coach Wandile Gwavu has conceded that Mzansi Super League (MSL) 2.0 will be vastly different compared to the inaugural competition last year.

The Bidvest Wanderers Stadium-based outfit won the tournament last year and will be bidding to defend their title when the 2019 edition gets underway in mid-November.

Enoch Nkwe was the man at the reins last season, but he won’t be around this year after being promoted to the national team.

He has been replaced by Jamaican Donovan Miller, with Gwavu to continue as the number two for the champions.

“I think it’s always going to be difficult staying at the top,” the assistant coach said. “Getting to the top for me is always the easy part, but of course now there’s going to be a lot of challengers to our crown.

“Staying at the top will be tough, but we’re up for the challenge and we’re confident of doing well again this year.”

The Stars, like all the other five teams that will compete in the month-long spectacle, recently learnt who their playing personnel will be for the competition after the Player Draft was held in Soweto at the start of September.

Last year’s winners retained the maximum of six players prior to the event and in the end secured 11 out of the same 16 players that did duty for them last year. The new faces this time around will be Temba Bavuma, Aaron Phangiso, Lizaad Williams, Eathan Bosch and the Wildcard Pick, Dane Paterson, who was confirmed last week.

“I think we got most of the guys that we were looking for and that makes for a relatively balanced side,” Gwavu explained. “I would love to think that we did a little bit better than last season at the draft.

“But everybody knows that what you have on paper and how you end up playing on the field is totally two different things. I do think we have the players that can do the job and we’re going to back them all the way.

Discussing their draft strategy, the Stars assistant added: “It was a pretty simple plan really. I think when you win a competition with certain players you want to try and retain them, which is exactly what we did, and we tried our best to get most of the released ones as well.

“We’ve done that as the squad lists will reveal.”

Stars and Blitz will launch the second edition of MSL 2.0 at the Wanderers on Friday, 8 November 2019. Play will start at 17h30.