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Is Test cricket still relevant to South Africans? The
question may sound odd to pose two days before their biggest summer match, and
it will appear even more odd following the team’s enthusiastic celebration of
last week’s innings victory against India, which preserved a 30-year record:
India will have to wait until the following FTP cycle to attempt to change the
fact that they have never won a series in South Africa, regardless of what
occurs this week. However, it’s one of the last unanswered questions in
circulation following the revelation of the SA20’s detrimental effects on
red-ball cricket and the announcement of South Africa’s Test team, which
includes seven uncapped players, to play New Zealand next month. And we know
the response. At least one South African does: David Bedingham.
“I took my name out of the (SA20) draft, so I can
play in New Zealand,” Bedingham said at Newlands, ahead of South Africa’s
first training session of 2024. “Shuks (Shukri Conrad – Test coach) just
called and said there is a possibility and as soon as I heard there is a
chance, that no-one from SA20 can play, I thought my chances of playing are
probably quite high. So I didn’t even have a second thought. I told him I will
take my name straight off the draft so I can hopefully play.”
One significant distinction between Bedingham and
other first-choice players in South Africa, like Aiden Markram, is that
Bedingham does not possess a CSA central contract. Because CSA owns a
substantial stake in the SA20, all domestically contracted players with SA20
deals are required to participate in the tournament before any other fixtures,
including internationals. It was up to other players, including domestic
players, to choose whether or not to enter the draft. In the hopes of making a
sizable profit, the majority did. However, Bedingham, a purist who saw his
chance, chose not to.
At a time when Test cricket is at a crossroads, he has
picked South Africa. For the period of the current World Test Championship,
they will only play two Test series; they will not play Australia or England.
He will have to wait until 2026 for that. In the short term, they have
Bedingham, who has the most recent cap, on their second (or third or fourth)
string side, and he understands the difficulties. They will travel to New
Zealand.
The struggles faced by the Western Province as a union
can be interpreted as a metaphor for the fortunes of South Africa’s Test
calendar, but as the upcoming week will demonstrate, things can happen when
there is a strong desire to do so. Some will argue that this is the reason
South Africa leads the series 1-0 and that Bedingham is playing Test cricket
rather than SA20.