THE GOOGLY: It's time to Kolpak it in... cricket needs counties and international sides to work together

HUW TURBERVILL: I am no legal expert but in my – perhaps naïve assessment – I just wish there could be a bit more flexibility and common sense.

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It is time for domestic and international teams to stop battling with each other, and hit the Kolpak concept to the boundary.

I refer of course to the disappointing news that Duanne Olivier has turned his back on a two-year deal to keep playing with South Africa, to sign for Yorkshire for three years (of course we do not know how much money we are talking about – and the rand is weak compared to the pound).

Fans of international cricket agree it is a great shame. Despite their surprise 2-0 defeat by Sri Lanka, South Africa’s pace quartet had the makings of one of the greats: Vernon Philander (214 wickets at 21.64), Kagiso Rabada (176 at 21.77), Dale Steyn (439 at 22.95) and Duanne Olivier (48 at 19.25).

Different times of course, but those statistics invite comparison with the brilliant units of the last few decades – Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and co of West Indies; Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee of Australia; Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis of Pakistan.

But after only 10 Tests, Olivier’s Test career appears over already at the age of 26. He did not look brilliant in England in his second and third Tests in 2017, but since then his performances against Bangladesh, Pakistan (24 wickets in three Tests) and Sri Lanka have been impressive. He bowls at about 83mph, swings it and is tall, so finds bounce. He showed last summer for Derbyshire, taking 31 wickets in seven Championship matches, that he is going to be an effective performer in county cricket.

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Duanne Olivier has signed a Kolpak deal with Yorkshire

Of course you cannot uninvent the Kolpak ruling, which allows EU citizens – and citizens of countries that are part of EU Association Agreements – to play here, and not be categorised as an overseas player.

I am also no legal expert. But in my – perhaps naïve assessment – I just wish there could be a bit more flexibility and common sense.

Before the days of central contracts, players appeared far more for their domestic sides.

Yes, we can all agree that finishing a Test match at Headingley, then driving down for the start of a county match at Taunton the next day, was gruelling. But today’s T20 schedule barely gives some players the chance to draw breath. James Vince has this winter played for Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League, Sydney Sixers in Australia’s Big Bash and Auckland Aces in the Super Smash in New Zealand. When you factor in travel, he has not had much time off.

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Could Olivier – and others – still sign lucrative contracts with counties, but be released to play in Tests and ODIs?

Yes we understand South Africa want him for every game. They want to manage his workload to ensure he is at his best – for them.

Yes Yorkshire want him for every game for the next three years. If he also plays for his country, they would be worried about burn-out, and his effectiveness for them diminishing.

Could there not be a compromise though? International cricket – especially the Test game – needs its top performers playing, not sitting out – potentially – their prime years.

Could Olivier not sign a three-year deal with both South Africa and Yorkshire?

His compatriot Simon Harmer is another case.

Last summer he took 57 wickets at 24.45 in the County Championship for Essex.

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What might Simon Harmer have achieved with South Africa?

He was even better in 2017, with 72 at 19.19 – a key factor in their title triumph.

He is a handy batsman as well.

After such brilliant form in county cricket, he would definitely be a candidate for South Africa’s Test side, even if it would not necessarily be a given that he would displace Keshav Maharaj.

Yes you can understand why Essex would not want to share him. And maybe South Africa would not want him after he left for county cricket. But it would be fascinating to see how Harmer would fare in a second innings of his Test career (in the first he took 20 wickets at 29 in five matches) now he has been revitalised by county cricket. 

Hampshire have Kyle Abbott, who is 31 and played his last Test in 2017, and Rilee Rossouw, who is 29 and has a very good record in his 36 ODIs (the last of which he played three years ago). These players are good enough for international cricket still.

There are also others who have – perhaps – less pressing international claims. Stiaan van Zyl is a fine performer for Sussex. He played 10 Tests, scored a century against West Indies in 2014, but averaged 26 overall. Perhaps he would have played more for South Africa, perhaps he wouldn’t if he had not signed a three-year deal with the county in 2016. It seems a shame to have to play ‘what if’, though.

Maybe it will require a tightening of the international schedules – a limit of 10 Tests, 12 ODIs and 10 T20Is per year, anyone?

That would allow a player like Olivier to continue playing for South Africa and Yorkshire (most of his country’s matches do not clash with the English summer anyhow).

Perhaps this whole debate will become outdated anyhow, if Brexit does happen (it seems that is why there is a rush to sign players now).

Either way, surely there must be a way to allow players to play for their country, and earn a good wage domestically, ensuring security and job satisfaction. It doesn’t always have to be club v country.

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Comments

Posted by Amitava Bhattacharjee on 10/03/2019 at 17:15

Torally agree with your comments. CRICKET wants balance between International Match and Domestic ( counties/Domestic T20 leagues across the World). But not at the cost of taking a player compromising completely International Cricket( playing for his Country/Nation.Totally agree Kolpak deal should be totally scraped Off. CRICKET already given away Oliver and also one player from Zimbabwe before few years ago, to KOLPAK deal. can't offcourse afford to miss any players not to play for his Nation. Kolpak scrapped off.

Posted by Robert Henderson on 08/03/2019 at 12:30

Kill two birds with one stone: ban foreign players from county cricket. English professional cricket has been in decline since the scrapping of the 2 year residential rule in 1969. All the talk since then about English players learning from foreign stars has been hot air as is shown by the decline of the England team's performance. Moreover, the more foreign players in county cricket the worse the performance of the England cricket team Think of the embarrassing 1980s and 1990 in particular when county cricket was fuller of high class foreign players yet the performance of the England side was dire.

Posted by Michael Arnold on 07/03/2019 at 15:31

Thank you for an insightful and sympathetic article. As a South African I am saddened to see a player like Olivier lured away by the strength of the GBP against the Rand. Not to mention the other South Africans mentioned. Morne Morkel is an exception as he gave his all for his country before joining Middlesex in the twilight of his career. Some twilight, though! International cricket is impoverished by the departure of Olivier. And thus cricket itself is impoverished. Yorkshire apparently doesn't care. Some might say, why should they? As the grandson of a Yorkshireman I am saddened that they apparently don't.

Posted by Richard on 05/03/2019 at 15:55

As much as I hate to say this I think Yorkshire have this right. The situation with players signing for counties then being selected for internationals and disappearing (or sometimes not even arriving in the first place) is making County Cricket a joke. How can you plan for a season when you don’t know whether your overseas player is even going to turn up? How does limiting the number of internationals help? The games are (usually) agreed long before the season starts. It’s whether the individual player is going to be picked or not.

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