Proteas skipper blasts outdated club cricket system

By Benjamin Leshoro
19th July 2025

Proteas batter Rassie van der Dussen has come out swinging against the club cricket system in the country, blaming it for simply allowing a lot of young players to lose interest in the game.

van der Dussen is currently captaining South Africa in their T20 tri-series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand in Harare, but also took a long route to international cricket himself.

He didn’t play for the national team until very late in his 20s, and reckons there are a lot of black players in the townships who drop out because club cricket cannot accommodate the modern-day socio-economic demands.

"I think there is so much scope for development in our club cricket. I only started playing international cricket at 29, and I know a few guys who stopped when they were 23/24.

"This is because life happens, and if cricket cannot keep up and look after those guys, then you don't know what you're missing out on," said the skipper.

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The 36-year-old believes the plans for player development are good on paper and that there is money being channelled towards it, but the execution could do with a bit of polishing.

He says there needs to be a better way of monitoring mass participation from mini cricket level up until the senior professional stage.

"CSA is doing a lot in terms of development, but more still needs to be done. Exposing children to the game is one thing, but nurturing these youngsters requires a different kind of commitment.

"The overall number of participants looks great, but even in Johannesburg, Soweto Cricket Club is still struggling to churn teams out on a weekly basis. There's money that is being invested into cricket development, but where are the results of that?" questioned van der Dussen.

One of the bitter pills to swallow in cricket development is that it is still very much elitist, and unless you’re in the exclusive club of St. Stithians, Grey College, Hilton College, Dale College, King Edward VII, and the like, you are likely not going to crack it as a professional.

He agrees that this is still a big part of the problem.