JP Duminy calls for more inclusivity in South Africa's quota system
Former South African batsman JP Duminy has called for more inclusivity in the player selection process in his country.
Speaking on the International Cricket Council (ICC)'s online series 'Interviews Inside Out', the 36-year-old stated that the quota system in South Africa sometimes put the team on the back foot.
"For whatever reason, that (quota system) already puts the team on the back foot because there is the potential to not be able to pick your best team. I am not saying that has always been the case, but there is the potential for it."
In South Africa's domestic cricket, the country has a strict quota system which permits a franchise to field five white players. It further requires six players in a team's first XI to be native South Africans. Meanwhile, the national team needs to have an average of six coloured players in a season and two black Africans in the starting XI.
We are trying to find the balance of inclusivity: JP Duminy
JP Duminy pushed for more inclusivity in the team selection because he believes it is an opportunity to use transformation in an internal way.
"It gives a Black African player the sense - even players of colour like myself - that you are not picked on merit. And that is a degrading experience for players of colour. We understand why it came into place, but we are trying to find the balance of inclusivity. We have a big opportunity here to use transformation in an internal way."
Duminy was passionate in his speech when he said that South African Cricket needed to be sincere in its inclusivity system if it wanted to dominate the global space. He said:
“Can we get into a space from a South African point of view where inclusivity is genuine and it is sincere? For us to be a dominant space in a global context, we need to acknowledge it."
JP Duminy made his international debut back in 2004 and played 326 matches for South Africa across formats, which included 46 Tests, 199 ODIs and 81 T20Is. He retired from all forms of cricket at the beginning of this year.