Bat and ball / Alsy / 12 October 2007 /

Morgan in the driving seat - Alister Morgan explains how the quota system in SA cricket works and the effect it has had

From Cantona's kung fu kick to Dida's Humpty-Dumpty impression, all sports fans love a bit of controversy. The real shame is that we can't bet on these kind of sporting events too. Would Arsene Wenger really despatch Alan Pardew one-on-one and how many minutes would Craig Bellamy last on the St James Park terraces?

Then again, there are also the kind of sporting furores with no laughs to be had and where every protagonist seems diminished by association. A good example can be found in South Africa's current cricket quota policy. Mixing sport and politics often ends in disaster and South Africa have been labouring under a policy requiring provincial teams to field a minimum of four non-white players. At Test level a minimum of two non-white players (one black, one coloured) have to be included and it's fair to say that the policy has generated more column inches that the Test results of late.

Unfortunately, the end of the SA v Pakistan Series just gone will not signal the end of the quota debate - how do you best integrate a national cricket team traditionally the preserve of a white, privileged minority that represents a mere 13% of the population? If ever a country needed drastic measures to redress racial discrimination it's South Africa but for many applying 'positive' discrimination to cricket seems to rub against the Corinthian spirit of sport itself.

At SA provincial level much has been written on the quota by every Tom, Dick and Harry but it was Kevin (KP to England fans) who delivered the most telling blows. His own defection to England was a direct result of the quota system after being told by Natal that they were unable to keep him on and he remains an outspoken critic of the system.

"I was dropped because the quota system was brought into South African cricket to positively discriminate in favour of 'players of colour' and to fast-track the racial integration of cricket in the country," Pietersen says in Crossing the Boundary. "To me, every single person in this world needs to be treated exactly the same and that should have included me, as a promising 20-year-old cricketer. If you do well you should play on merit. That goes for any person of any colour. It was heartbreaking. "
Pietersen was also scathing on the subject of Ashwell Prince (the first SA black captain in the absence of an injured Graeme Smith) claiming that his appointment was "further evidence that things were going downhill".

It's certainly true that players like Prince and Loots Bosman would not have played much international cricket were it not for the quota system but there is no way the policy was ever going to bear fruit in the short-term.

Prince's form is a case in point, as he initially struggled to hold down a place in the Test and One Day side but since 2006, even Pietersen would be hard pressed to criticise. The great thing about cricket is that the stats don't lie while opposition teams care only about winning. Last year against India he scored more runs than any other batsmen in the series. He averaged 60.67 in six Tests in 2006 and his career average currently stands at 42.75.

In the short term South Africa cricket was weakened by quotas but, (like the integrated SA rugby team currently playing superbly in France) it may well bear fruit in the near future ensuring that all South Africa's citizens are represented on the international stage.

In the short term the performance of SA in Pakistan suggests that Graeme Smith's team might be making headlines for all the right reasons.

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