Cape Town - Cricket South Africa (CSA) has explained its decision to replace the traditional Boxing Day Test with a Twenty20 international for the 2012-13 home season.
South Africa will not, as was the norm, host a five-day Test over the period between December 26 and 30.
Instead, the Proteas will play a Twenty20 daytime international against New Zealand in Port Elizabeth on December 26 - the last of three contests between the two in that particular format after pre-Christmas games in Durban (December 21) and East London (December 23).
"We would like to clarify the Boxing Day Test issue that many fans are upset about. According to the ICC Future tours programme, the Proteas were only ever scheduled to play two Tests against New Zealand. The Boxing Day Test has not been replaced or cancelled in favour of T20 cricket for good, we will have Test matches from the beginning of January. There will be the normal five Tests. The scheduling is just slightly different. We may revert to a Boxing Day Test next season," a statement from CSA read.
However, CSA did admit that the Durban Test during that time has proven problematic over the years.
"The fact is that the Proteas have performed very poorly in Boxing Day Tests. The last time they won a Test at Kingsmead was against the West Indies in 2008 when the Test was moved to the end of January and the Proteas won easily. We have only won two out of our last 10 Christmas Test matches in South Africa."
The key Proteas home dates for 2012/13:
New Zealand tour:
December 21: 1st T20I, Durban
December 23: 2nd T20I, East London
December 26: 3rd T20I, Port Elizabeth
January 2-6: 1st Test, Cape Town
January 11-15: 2nd Test, Port Elizabeth
January 19: 1st ODI, Paarl
January 22: 2nd ODI, Kimberley
January 25: 3rd ODI, Potchefstroom
Pakistan tour:
February 1-5: 1st Test, Johannesburg
February 14-18: 2nd Test, Cape Town
February 22-26: 3rd Test, Centurion
March 1: 1st T20I, Durban
March 3: 2nd T20I, Centurion
March 10: 1st ODI, Bloemfontein
March 15: 2nd ODI, Centurion
March 17: 3rd ODI, Johannesburg
March 21: 4th ODI, Durban
March 24: 5th ODI, Benoni
South Africa will not, as was the norm, host a five-day Test over the period between December 26 and 30.
Instead, the Proteas will play a Twenty20 daytime international against New Zealand in Port Elizabeth on December 26 - the last of three contests between the two in that particular format after pre-Christmas games in Durban (December 21) and East London (December 23).
"We would like to clarify the Boxing Day Test issue that many fans are upset about. According to the ICC Future tours programme, the Proteas were only ever scheduled to play two Tests against New Zealand. The Boxing Day Test has not been replaced or cancelled in favour of T20 cricket for good, we will have Test matches from the beginning of January. There will be the normal five Tests. The scheduling is just slightly different. We may revert to a Boxing Day Test next season," a statement from CSA read.
However, CSA did admit that the Durban Test during that time has proven problematic over the years.
"The fact is that the Proteas have performed very poorly in Boxing Day Tests. The last time they won a Test at Kingsmead was against the West Indies in 2008 when the Test was moved to the end of January and the Proteas won easily. We have only won two out of our last 10 Christmas Test matches in South Africa."
The key Proteas home dates for 2012/13:
New Zealand tour:
December 21: 1st T20I, Durban
December 23: 2nd T20I, East London
December 26: 3rd T20I, Port Elizabeth
January 2-6: 1st Test, Cape Town
January 11-15: 2nd Test, Port Elizabeth
January 19: 1st ODI, Paarl
January 22: 2nd ODI, Kimberley
January 25: 3rd ODI, Potchefstroom
Pakistan tour:
February 1-5: 1st Test, Johannesburg
February 14-18: 2nd Test, Cape Town
February 22-26: 3rd Test, Centurion
March 1: 1st T20I, Durban
March 3: 2nd T20I, Centurion
March 10: 1st ODI, Bloemfontein
March 15: 2nd ODI, Centurion
March 17: 3rd ODI, Johannesburg
March 21: 4th ODI, Durban
March 24: 5th ODI, Benoni