ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2010

South Africa in 2009/10 South Africa remained one of the leading sides in current Test cricket but was unable to establish the commanding position enjoyed in recent times by Australia and, going slightly farther back, by West Indies. The 2009/10 season was a case in point. South Africa’s exciting four-Test home series against England produced keen, competitive cricket from both sides but South Africa, although clearly the stronger team and with home advantage, struggled to make their superiority count and were eventually relieved to win the final Test to secure a 1-1 draw in a series they should have won comfortably. Later in the season, South Africa visited India and won a crushing innings victory in the first of the two Tests only to be defeated by an even heavier margin in the second match. Had either of these series been won, South Africa, not India, would have headed the ICC rankings at the end of the 2009/10 season. The format of the main South African first-class competition, the SuperSport Series, was unchanged. Six regional franchises played each other in a home-and-away league, with no final. Cape Cobras won the title, comfortably ahead of the defending champions, Titans, in second place. The SuperSport match between Titans and Warriors at Benoni in October was abandoned after only 7 overs owing to poor pitch conditions; the match retains first-class status although it was struck from the SuperSport table. When it was replayed the following month, it was switched to Port Elizabeth – thus Warriors effectively had two home matches against Titans in the 2009/10 competition. Readers may find it helpful to note that the franchises are made up from the provincial sides as follows. Cape Cobras = Western Province and Boland; Dolphins = KwaZulu-Natal and KwaZulu-Natal Inland; Eagles = Free State and Griqualand West; Lions = Gauteng and North West; Titans = Northerns and Easterns; Warriors = Eastern Province and Border. The 13 South African provincial teams, plus Namibia, contested South Africa’s second first-class tournament, the Provincial Three-Day Competition. It which was reorganised in 2009/10 as a round-robin league in place of the former division into two separate groups of seven teams each. This had the effect of substantially increasing the number of games: in 2008/09, the competition had involved 43 matches including a final; in 2009/10, it would have involved 91 matches (with no final) had bad weather not washed out three games and reduced the number to 88. Note, however, that only 82 of these matches are contained in this section: Namibia’s six home matches are found in the Rest of the World section. Note that in this competition, the first innings is restricted to 170 overs in all, with no more than 85 overs for the team batting first. Eastern Province won the Provincial Competition by a wide margin, with eight wins out of 13 matches (no one else managed more than six). The 2008/09 champions, Griqualand West, could finish no higher than seventh. SuperSport Series 2009/10: Final table P W L D BatBP BowBP Adj Pts 10 0 0 1 Cape Cobras 10 6 1 3 37.72 33 0 130.72 2 Titans 10 5 2 3 36.28 26 0 112.28 3 Lions 10 2 4 4 45.44 35 0 100.44 4 Eagles 10 2 4 4 47.44 25 -6 86.44 5 Warriors 10 3 5 2 28.12 25 0 83.12 6 Dolphins 10 2 4 4 26.18 29 0 75.18 359