Lions cricket still going strong, CEO assures

Winter may be upon us and the country still in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, but according to Central Gauteng Lions Cricket chief executive Jono Leaf-Wright, there are still sunny skies over the Wanderers and the floodlights will metaphorically keep shining bright through the crisis.

Leaf-Wright said on Friday the Johannesburg-based franchise was in a good position to hit the ground running when cricket resumed.

“The financials were in a great place back in February, but nobody envisaged then the impact Covid would have and we have lost many revenue streams. But it was to our benefit that the virus hit at the back end of our season and we are still in a decent place with no real long-term impact to the organisation,” Leaf-Wright said in an online press conference to introduce the new Central Gauteng Lions board.

“We are all working really hard on returning to work, training and playing, but we’re also working on mitigating the risks so we can return as quickly as possible and as safely as possible.

“It’s full steam ahead for our operations team and we’ve had exciting interest from our sponsors. Hopefully a lot of us will be back at the Wanderers in the next week or two and the floodlights are staying on to show people we are ready to return as soon as government allows.”

The Lions hoped domestic cricket would resume in November, but they would be able to weather the storm if they had to wait until the new year.

“The plans we have discussed with Cricket South Africa are to have matches in November and there are still international tours that need to go ahead before that,” Leaf-Wright said.

“There may be some problems if we don’t start as planned, but obviously we have to put safety first. We have a duty of care to the players.

“It’s not essential that we get back to playing in November, but we would need to if we are going to fit everything into the season. There are new tournaments that we want to launch but we won’t be able to if the schedule is full.

“The three existing events – the four-day series, One-Day Cup and the new-look Mzansi Super League – are key for us and our sponsors. It’s just about how jam-packed we can make the season.

“In the meantime, everybody on the team is working hard to stay fit and strong.”

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