Proteas bowling legend and current Lions bowling coach Allan Donald admits handling the player workload will be key in navigating a rejigged domestic season.
Image: Henk Kruger/Independent Media
Cricket South Africa’s revamped domestic structure promises more opportunities for players but will also place unprecedented demands on provincial squads, with Lions bowling coach Allan Donald warning that the 2026/27 campaign will be a “monster season”.
CSA officially launched the new domestic season on Thursday, unveiling a streamlined competition structure designed to give greater clarity to the country’s domestic game while increasing opportunities across both red and white-ball cricket.
The biggest change is the introduction of the Pro20 Cup**,** which brings together the former T20 Challenge and T20 Knockout competitions into a single premier competition.
The expanded Pro20 will feature 16 teams from both Division 1 and Division 2, as well as an SA Emerging side. Division 1’s 50-over competition will be known as the Dafabet Pro50, while the traditional red-ball competition will be branded the First Class Series. Division 2 will contest the First Class Shield and Dafabet Pro50 Shield.
For Donald, the sheer volume of cricket means workload management will become increasingly important, particularly for fast bowlers who will be expected to move between formats while also navigating the SA20 season.
“We’ve all asked now that, like we heard in this room today, there’s going to be a lot of cricket this year,” Donald said. “There’s no doubt that with so much four-day cricket ahead, we are going to have to look at rotation.”
The former South African fast bowler believes the Lions are well placed to cope with the demands because of their depth, with technology also allowing the coaching staff to monitor players closely. The Lions currently have 12 players away from their pre-season group involved in South African high-performance programmes or other national commitments.
“We’ve got a great opportunity to see how we can manage workloads, when to put a stop to certain players and give them a rest and rotate,” Donald said. “This is the first monster season that I think everyone’s talking about that’s going to require all these squads to push everyone’s buttons in their squads.”
While managing workloads will be crucial, Donald’s priority remains preparing the Lions’ young fast bowlers for the demands of international cricket. For him, that starts with mindset rather than simply technical ability.
“You can have a bunch of talent and if you’re technically sound, I’m happy. But the thing I work very, very hard on is mindset,” he said.
The Lions' coaching staff have deliberately tried to instil what Donald calls a “Test-match mentality” in their younger players.
“We don’t talk about four-day cricket, we talk about Test-match mentality, Test-match intensity, Test-match intent,” he said.
Donald believes that approach has contributed to the Lions’ success and said it has been particularly valuable during the past four weeks, when he has had access to a group of young players who are normally away with high-performance programmes or academies.
The challenge now will be to ensure those players can cope with the constant switching between formats. Donald acknowledges that the transition from red-ball to white-ball cricket can be tricky, but believes modern players are increasingly equipped to adapt.
“Players now, right around the world, are so well adapted to making that shift immediately,” he said.
The revamped structure is intended to provide exactly that kind of development environment. Division 1 teams will play at least three additional red-ball matches, while Division 2 will adopt a double-round format, creating more opportunities for players to develop their longer-format skills. The promotion and relegation structure will continue over a two-year period, excluding the Pro20 competition.
The women’s game retains the Hollywoodbets Pro Series as its premier domestic competition, featuring the Hollywoodbets Pro50 and Pro20.
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