In April 2006 Cricket South Africa announced that the  Eastern Cape cricket franchise would move from East London and be based and administered from Port Elizabeth. What exactly does this development mean for cricketers, cricket fans and cricket stakeholders in the Nelson Mandela Metropole? Read on for an overview of the new domestic cricket set-up.

Quick Facts

Changed
• Professional Cricket in the Eastern Cape
Not changed
• Amateur Cricket
• International Cricket at Axxess DSL St Georges

The old and the new

The Structures

Recently Eastern Province and Border Cricket both restructured to form separate Amateur and Professional entities. The Eastern Cape franchise will not affect the Amateur structures which focus on club cricket, women’s cricket, amateur umpiring, youth/school cricket, cricket development and amateur coaching. This means that EP Amateur Cricket will continue with its programme of placing emphasis on school and club cricket, which was one of the main reasons for the restructuring.  This bodes well for cricket in the region because club cricket is the nursery of professional cricket!

The professional cricket entities, Jumbos Cricket (Pty) Ltd. and Border Bears (Pty) Ltd. currently own their stadiums (Axxess DSL St Georges and Mercedes-Benz Park) and their teams (EP Jumbos and Border Bears). In terms of the new franchise deal they will become equal shareholders in a new joint venture arrangement. Jumbos Cricket and Border Bears will continue to be 100% owners of their respective stadiums. However they will now both become 50% owners of a new, consolidated Eastern Cape team housed in the joint venture. They will also have equal director representation and decision making powers in the joint venture.

Franchise Headquarters
The administrative headquarters of the joint venture will be at Axxess DSL St Georges, Port Elizabeth.

Domestic Matches
Axxess DSL St Georges and Mercedez-Benz Park will share domestic professional matches on an equal basis. The shared matches will include SuperSport games, MTN games, and the Standard Bank PRO 20 series.

International Matches
The franchise arrangement is not at all concerned with international matches. Cricket SA allocates these matches to stadiums and has recently decided to award matches to stadiums that provide the best financial return. Given the good support for internationals at Axxess DSL St Georges and the fact that it is one of the biggest and most impressive stadiums in South Africa, local supporters can anticipate more, not less, internationals in the future. As the owner of Axxess DSL St Georges, Jumbos Cricket (Pty) Ltd. will host the internationals.

Amateur Cricket
The recently restructured Eastern Province Amateur Cricket Board (EPACB) is not affected by the new franchise deal and remains committed to its vital role of spreading the game of cricket, and growing and nurturing future professional players. With an exciting schedule of competitions ahead (EP Amateur National Competition: 3-day and 1-day) emerging amateur cricketers have plenty to aspire to and the foundation of EP Cricket looks healthy.