It is becoming rare for both teams in an international series to be at full strength.
There are benefits to stakeholders of the sport, but having as much cricket on the calendar as we do is not necessarily beneficial for fans.
Since the T20 World Cup in June, the Proteas have toured the West Indies, the United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh.
The home T20 series against India which started on Friday night, however, is the first time Proteas fans are seeing a near full-strength national team on the field in nearly five months.
And even this squad isn’t quite packed with first-choice players, with bowlers Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi being rested, presumably in order to ensure the squad has sufficient depth for the Test series starting against Sri Lanka later this month.
Still, despite most of South Africa’s first-choice players being included in the squad to face India, their opponents are touring with a second-string side, as they too prepare for an upcoming Test series against Australia.
Managing players
In their three tours thus far in the second half of the year, SA team management have defended their decisions to field under-strength squads as they look to build depth ahead of major international tournaments over the next few years.
Blooding new players is not the only reason, however, that we haven’t seen the national team at their best since June. With so much cricket being played (including a seemingly endless string of lucrative T20 leagues around the world) individuals need to be managed and they need a chance to rest.
And even when we have a first-choice national team available for a series, we have to hope the opposition have a schedule that allows them to field a full-strength side.
The result of the amount of cricket being played is that watered down international matches and series are becoming too common, which detracts from public interest.
A lose-lose situation
International series can be lucrative for national federations and broadcasters, but there is only money to be made when fans watch the games, either at the grounds or on TV at home.
If nobody is watching, it’s no good for anyone, and if weakened teams are playing, fewer people are going to watch.
As much as cricket fans want to watch the sport, and stakeholders want to capitalise financially, too much cricket creates a lose-lose situation.
Administrators who are responsible for approving international schedules need to find a balance between enough cricket and too much cricket.
At the moment, based on the quality of the squads we’re seeing in action, it seems like too much.
