What Are South Africa's Options If WI Pay Dispute Disrupts the Summer?

West Indies are currently locked in a bitter pay dispute with their board. So bitter that the West Indies have just abruptly ended their tour to India, with a whole bunch of matches still to play.

The reasons for the dispute are complex and hinges on more than just “greed” from the players. Writing for Wisden India, former Windies bowler Michael Holding tried to explain some of the reasons. He said:

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The current crisis in West Indies cricket is a lot different from what happened on so many occasions during the last decade. To understand the issue here, we need to look at what caused this impasse. Money is involved, yes, but there is also a principle being abused. What caused it was the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that the players knew nothing about and are not happy with. Again, I can hear people saying: ‘That’s a fight between the players and their union, not the WICB’, and I agree, but let’s examine the issue in its totality.

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The West Indies are due to travel to South Africa for a full tour over December and January, but Tony Cozier told ESPN Cricinfo that the tour, as well as the Windies’ participation in the World Cup, “could be in doubt” if the standoff continues.

Cricket South Africa have told several media organisations, including Bleacher Report, that there is no need to panic yet. Currently, they are “waiting for a meeting between the players and WICB to take place” before deciding on their plan of action “if required.” When exactly that meeting will take place is not clear.

Last summer, South Africa had to make do with a truncated tour after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) cut India’s schedule by nearly half. There might not be reason to panic just yet but pulling out of a tour midway through is rather drastic and gives some insight as to just how serious the issue between the West Indies players and the board is.

So, what are South Africa’s options? The first and perhaps the most likely solution is that South Africa could play a third-string West Indies team over the summer. In 2009, strike action by the players saw a weakened team take to the field and that could happen again if the West Indies players cannot settle their differences.

For South Africa, it is crucial to fill their fixture list and while a weakened team is the worst possible solution, it’s probably the first course of action to consider.

The other option is to draft in opposition from the teams not busy over the South African summer.  Currently, most of the “big” teams have fixtures pencilled in for the festive season.

New Zealand and Sri Lanka are not available, they are playing each other in New Zealand over the festive season. Australia and India are also playing each other, in Australia.

England are free, but only from 17 December 2014, when their series with Sri Lanka ends and go to Australia for a tri-series with India early January. England are due to tour South Africa for the 2015-16 season in what is expected to be a four-Test series, but this is a stop-gap option rather than a full tour. The Indian Express reported that the ECB offered to fill the gap left by the West Indies, but by that time Sri Lanka had already agreed.

England are a possible solution and could fill in for two Tests played over Christmas and New Year, but with an already packed schedule, it seems unlikely to happen right before a World Cup.

Other teams who do not have any commitments are Pakistan, who have no fixtures from 19 December 2014 through to 31 January 2015, while Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have not got any commitments, either.

The festive season Test matches are a crucial part of South Africa’s cricketing summer. While they are not always profitable, as the No. 1 Test team in the world, playing Tests regularly is important for South Africa. Plugging the Test match gap should be the first priority. South Africa already lost out on their New Year’s Test this year and it would be a shame for it to happen again.

However, considering there is a World Cup just around the corner, South Africa might consider binning Tests in favour of one-day games. One option could be an ODI tri-series involving neighbours Zimbabwe and Pakistan, who filled in last year when India shortened their tour.

South Africa could also opt to invite Zimbabwe or Bangladesh for a full tour. Zimbabwe are the most likely option as it would be more cost-effective.

As things stand, there are some options for South Africa should the West Indies tour be cancelled. None of those options are particularly appealing for fans of Test cricket, but it might be a case of needing to bite the bullet to make the best of a bad situation