The impact of the franchises system on amateur cricket in selected provinces of South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative, descriptive study was to investigate the financial and developmental impact of the franchise system on amateur cricket in selected provinces of South Africa. The survey consisted of a sample size of 280 respondents, which included administrators, managers, coaches, players and umpires from both amateur and professional cricket. Information was collected from 208 respondents in five cricket franchises and nine amateur unions in the form of a questionnaire, achieving a response rate of 74.3%. A large percentage (57.5%) (p = 0.024) of the professionals indicated that funding from CSA was not adequate, 73.6% (p < 0.001) complained about their salaries and 85.4% (p < 0.001) indicated that the financial state of professional cricket could improve. A large percentage (38%) (p < 0.001) of the amateur cricket clubs indicated that they were not financially sustainable, 51% (p < 0.001) indicated that funding from CSA was not adequate, 49.2% (p < 0.001) experienced financial difficulties and 53.7% (p < 0.001) disagreed that the present system maintained player support. The results evinced more weaknesses than strengths, which were statistically significant at p < 0.05. The system did improve the standard of domestic cricket, but there were lacunae in other areas of development.