Mumbai: Speaking on his experience of being a part of the first two seasons of the SA20, in an interaction facilitated by SA20, Paul Adams, South African Cricket Legend, said, “It’s been really great. I think the energy around the tournament and also the quality of the players has been absolutely magnificent. You can feel that, when you’re at the grounds, when you’re around, when the tournament’s on, there’s quite a bit of a buzz about it. And when you’re at the ground, it’s just the energy and the vibe has been really great. And I think it will inject a lot of positivity within cricket in general in South Africa. And then also from a world spectator point of view, it’s been good cricket.”
Speaking on the role of Indian franchises taking ownership in the SA20, in an interaction facilitated by SA20, Paul Adams, South African Cricket Legend, said, “Yeah, I think it plays a big role. Having IPL teams as part of ownership, they bring a lot of their resources as well as expertise. I think managing a team within a high profile tournament is important. And then also, and how they go about it. You can see it clearly in terms of how they create fan engagements, creating their own identity within each city. And it’s been absolutely amazing how quickly people have really latched on to their home cities and just created this whole vibe about that this is the big tournament within Cricket South Africa. And you can clearly see it from the viewership as well as the quality of professionals that have come over as well to play in the tournament. And I think also a great thing is the timing of when SA20 gets played. It gets played here in the January period where the weather is really great and also in the holiday period. So young cricketers can really get to see the heroes out on the cricket field.”
Speaking on how players like Gerald Coetzee have risen through the ranks, in an interaction facilitated by SA20, Paul Adams, South African Cricket Legend, said, “Gerald Coetzee’s been around here, played from the under-19s system all the way through, always able to contribute as well with the bat. And his innings the other night was absolutely amazing. Coming in, taking that pressure immediately off Tristan Stubbs. So having a player like that down the order and also South Africa to be able to have the batting depth these days within the T20 setup is important. It allows batters to continue to keep going hard. And also that you’ve got to understand that the game’s never finished. Gone are the days of that. You’ve got to make sure that you’ve got length in your batting and be able to have batters down the order that can clear the ropes. And we had to see what Gerald is capable of.”
Speaking on whether Sunrisers Cape Town may complete a hat-trick of SA20 championships, in an interaction facilitated by SA20, Paul Adams, South African Cricket Legend, said, “Yeah, look, I think the Sunrisers, I think every season they start, they don’t have like a great start. I think they kind of get their team sort of in order. And I think they create a great space. It looks like a space where everyone understands their role within that group. And towards the back end, really come up with the business. So they, again, going to be probably a team to be challenged. I think it’s always tough when you get maybe a group of players all back in the beginning. But then I think with the coach, Adrian Birrell, he really gets the vibe going and understanding about things. So, you know, two-time champions are always going to be around in the tournament. And they kind of don’t really have too big, too much changes within a team. They kind of just strengthen up certain areas where they feel they can tweak or they lost the play or so. But they’ve really been a real settled side.”
