New Delhi | Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced the postponement of next year’s third edition of the Mzansi Super League (MSL) which was scheduled for February 2022.
The announcement coincided with the time where India have their South Africa tour slated from December 26, 2021 to January 23, 2022 which includes three-match Test series followed by a three-match ODI series.
The decision was taken in the face of the dreaded Covid-19 scare which has made it difficult to maintain the brand proposition of being the premium International T20 tournament, due to increased travel restrictions as imposed by many nations on South Africa since the emergence of Omicron variant of the virus.
This is the second edition to be cancelled, as the 2020 edition was also cancelled due to Covid-19 logistical challenges.
“The decision to cancel the 2021 edition of the MSL is meant to allow CSA and its strategic partners to revamp and review the tournament post-Covid-19 to regain its market and commercial position,” said Pholetsi Moseki, Acting Chief Executive Officer at Cricket South Africa.
For its purposes, the MSL slot will again be replaced by a domestic CSA T20 Challenge, featuring the 8 (eight) Division 1 teams and this tournament will take place in February 2022,” he added in a statement.
“However, restrictions such as stricter travel possibilities, the Bio-Secure Environment frustrations, fear of the new variant, and the weak Rand/US Dollar exchange rate are some of the main reasons why CSA has taken the decision to call off the 2022 version of the MSL,” the statement further added.
The MSL was conceptualised as the premium global T20 competition to rival the likes of gIitzy Indian Premier League (IPL), Pakistan Super League (PSL), Big Bash League (BBL); to name a few. This was done to create a commercial vehicle to attract global and local sponsors as well as to drive interest in cricket amongst non-cricket fans in South Africa. However, restrictions such as stricter travel possibilities, the Bio-Secure Environment frustrations, fear of the new variant, and the weak Rand/US Dollar exchange rate are some of the main reasons why CSA has taken the decision to call off the 2022 version of the MSL.
