4-Day Domestic Series
4-Day Domestic Series: participating teams
Boland cricket team
0
Border cricket team
0
Dolphins
1
Eastern Province cricket team
2
Easterns
1
Free State cricket team
3
Imperial Lions
3
Limpopo Cricket Team
0
Mpumalanga cricket team
0
North West cricket team
0
Northern Cape cricket team
1
Northerns cricket team
0
South Western Districts
0
Titans cricket team
7
Warriors cricket team
0
CSA 4-Day Domestic Series: domestic tournament of First Class cricket in South Africa
They started talking about the championship in 1889 for the first time. Then it was called as Currie Cup. Throughout its history, the tournament has changed its names several times. Since 2004, the first-class championship has been called the 4-Day Domestic Series. Basically, when the names of the championship were changed, its format also changed. The most famous years of the tournament are the franchise period (2004-2021). By the way, from the 2021-2022 season, South Africa’s home cricket will change dramatically. Read more about this in our article.
4-Day Domestic Series – Initial Period
Cricket is a very popular sport in Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania. In South Africa, this sport appeared at the end of the 19th century, thanks to the traveling British (it was there that cricket was officially born). Also, the England national team became the first team to visit the warm continent in 1888-1889. At this time, there were already several amateur groups in South Africa. Every year the number of cricket fans grew in the country.
In 1889, the founder of Union-Castle Line, Sir Donald Curry, formed a national championship in the country under the debut name of the Currie Cup. His 1st winner was the Kimberley Club (now called the Northern Cape).
The Curry Cup was not played every year. Over the next 25 years, only 14 seasons were played. Since 1907, the Currie Cup has become a circular format. It was at this time that the first national team of South Africa was established in the country. Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of the First World War, all sports competitions have ceased since 1914.
After the end of the military campaign, the country’s domestic championships continued in 1921. At this time, already 7 provincial teams participated in the Curry Cup. After 18 years, the South African country faced a new international conflict – World War II.
The popular championship changed its game format in 1951. Two levels appeared – the 1st and 2nd divisions. Moreover, the 1st level was more authoritative. Therefore, at the end of the season, the best team of the 2nd division replaced the last club of the 1st group standings for the next season. Much to the disappointment, South Africa was expelled from the International Cricket Council in 1961, which the country joined in 1909. The reason for the dismissal was the internal policy of apartheid (the forced division of people into racial, ethnic or other groups in everyday life).
Since 1965, the Curry Cup has been played annually. The domestic championship reached its peak in the period 1970-1980. In 1971, the two main divisions of the cup were no longer considered promotions or demotions. During the 1970s, the 2nd Division became a separate championship altogether (originally called the Castle Bowl).
Finally, in 1991, the United South African Cricket Board (UCB) was created in South Africa. At the same time, the country returned to the ICC. During the 1990s, due to commercial reasons, the competition changed its name several times. In 1990, it was the Castle Cup, and since 1996, it has been the SuperSport Series. Due to the innovations, the format of the tournament also changed. Let’s fairly evaluate the results of all the years, from the moment the championship was founded until 2004 (since that year, the championship has changed dramatically). The Gauteng club is considered the most titled cricket team in South Africa. During this time, he managed to win 29 championship finals.
4-Day Domestic Series – Franchise Times and Tournament Rules
The Cricket South Africa has been established in the country since 2002. At first, the CSA worked in conjunction with the UCB, but soon the CSA Council became the unified governing body of cricket. In 2004, the SuperSport Series changed to the 4-Day Domestic Series.
All 11 provincial teams in South Africa partly merged provincial to form the country’s 6 main professional clubs (the Cape Cobras, the Dolphins, the Knights, the Lions, the Titans and the Warriors).
The rules for first-class games are very similar in almost every country Matches last several days (3-5), the points system is practically the same:
- Victory in the match – 16 points;
- Tie – 8 points;
- Draw – 6 points;
- Any other result – 9 points.
In addition to the main points, bowlers and batsmen can earn bonus points for the team at matches:
- 1 point for 150 runs, then 0.02 points for one run;
- 1 point for breaking 3 wickets, then a point for every 2 wickets.
For 17 years of the franchise, the most successful club has become a collective called the Titans. They have 7 wins in the top-notch 4-Day DS competition.
By the way, those 11 provincial teams began to compete in the new CSA Provincial Competitions in the period 2004-2021. But, I would like to note that from the middle of 2021, the franchise era will no longer exist. The format of the championship will also change. Two divisions will reappear (1st and 2nd level), where 11 old provincial teams will participate. Plus, four more clubs will be added to them. In total, 15 first-class professional teams will take part in the national championships of South Africa.
