The Warriors, a provincial cricket team from Gqeberha, have been disqualified from the domestic one-day cup playoffs. Cricket South Africa (CSA) penalized the team for not adhering to their transformation policy.
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, the Warriors were docked five points, the points they earned for winning that game.
This penalty dropped the Warriors from third to fourth place in the standings, costing them a playoff qualifier spot. The Dolphins, originally their opponents, were awarded four points, elevating them to second place, ahead of the Titans. Now, the Dolphins will host the playoff match against the Titans on Wednesday. The winner of that match will proceed to the final against Boland on Sunday.
Before the Warriors’ sanction, the Titans were set to host the Warriors for the playoff game. Now, the Titans lose the home advantage.
CSA officially announced the sanction on Monday, also including an undisclosed monetary fine. 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 within that period.
The Warriors now find themselves at the bottom of the combined rankings across all formats (first-class, one-day, and T20). This puts them at risk of being relegated to the second division of South African provincial cricket. The lowest-ranked Division One team is automatically relegated, and the top Division Two team is promoted.
Teams failing to meet transformation targets without a valid reason, such as injury, must appear before the CSA board. In this case, the Warriors presented their explanation 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 penalize the Warriors by deducting points and awarding them to the Dolphins.
Teams were informed of the points deduction on Sunday evening, three weeks after the incident and just two days before the playoff matches. The reason for this delay is unclear, and it seems not everyone within CSA was aware of the points adjustment. On Monday, CSA’s website initially still showed the Titans and Warriors in playoff positions, but the updated points table from CSA’s stats team confirmed the changes, noting the penalty against the Warriors for breaching the player requirement.
There is no appeal process for these sanctions. However, reports indicate that the Warriors have sent a legal letter to CSA to challenge the punishment. This appeal is considered unlikely to succeed, especially as the Dolphins are already advertising the playoff match at their home ground. Furthermore, all teams, including the Warriors, agreed to CSA’s administrative conditions, including transformation targets, at the beginning of the season. These targets have been in place since 2013.
CSA’s transformation policy for domestic teams mandates fielding six players of color in each XI, with at least three being black African. This differs from the national team’s policy, which requires six players of color, including at least two black African players, calculated as an average over the season, allowing for 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.
While this is not the first instance of a team missing the target, especially this season, previously teams like the Cape Cobras in 2019 were not sanctioned after providing explanations. This season, Titans, North West, Lions, and Western Province also failed to meet the black African player requirement at least once, but they contacted CSA, received permission, and will compensate by fielding extra black African players in future matches.
Sources indicate that obtaining exemptions from CSA for injuries is generally straightforward. However, the Warriors did not cite injuries and instead attributed their team selection to tactical reasons. Tactical decisions are not considered valid grounds for failing to meet transformation targets.
