Cricket returns to South Africa after week of race controversy
Weekly of race controversy for South African cricket ended on Saturday with the sport's return to live action in the country.
A unique match involving three teams was played in an empty SuperSport Park in Centurion, rendering it difficult to judge if the new form of the overall game, branded 3T Cricket, had the potential for major spectator appeal.
It had been the first major televised sporting event in South Africa because the coronavirus lockdown in March, and came days after 30 black former South African international players alleged in a letter that racism still damaged the sport.
The 24 players involved on Saturday were united in wearing Black Lives Matter armbands. Before play started there was one minute of silence for victims of the COVID-19 virus accompanied by all the players going for a knee in solidarity with the BLM movement.
Makhaya Ntini, the former Test fast bowler who played in 101 Test matches, was among the commentators.
He did not make reference to an emotional television set interview on Friday where he said he felt lonely during his international career because he didn't feel contained in off-field activities involving groups of team-mates.
Ntini said his loneliness extended to sitting alone in hotels at breakfast time. He also said his much-publicised habit of running between hotels and grounds instead of travelling with other players on the team bus stemmed from his feeling of exclusion.
Graeme Smith, South Africa's director of cricket, was one of Ntini's captains but if there is any ill feeling it had been not in evidence if they were on air together on Saturday, with Ntini saying "we stand together" at one point in his conversation with Smith.
Smith arrived strongly to get Black Lives Matter on Friday.
Saturday's match featured three teams of eight players each, with no regional identity. The Eagles, a team captained by AB de Villiers, were the winners with a complete of 160 for four from 12 overs, with six overs each bowled by the other two teams. De Villiers hit 61 and Aiden Markram scored 70.
