India will be first to face SA 'A' team
Fakir Hassen
The Indian cricket team to tour South Africa in
April 2002 will be the first to match wits with the new South
Africa 'A' side, which would be selected on merit for the first time.
The match between India and South Africa 'A' would be the first of
a five-year plan by the United Cricket Board of South Africa to allow
greater opportunities for young players to gain exposure to international
opponents.
UCBSA chief executive Gerald Majola said the plan was a major step
to develop talent for later inclusion in the national team. The 'A'
side would be developed as the second best in the country and would play
against all international visitors to South Africa.
Majola said sports minister Ngconde Balfour had approved the plan,
which
incorporates inclusion of players previously disadvantaged in the
apartheid
era.
He said he does not foresee a shortage of black players for the 'A'
side as
all provincial teams for the coming season have to field at least
three such
players in terms of a UCBSA quota system introduced to give them
greater
opportunities.
Until fairly recently, the South African national squads have been
almost
exclusively white because earlier apartheid legislation prohibited
mixed-race teams.
Indo-Asian News Service
