Cricket South Africa (CSA) has congratulated KwaZulu-Natal Inland’s AET Tuskers for being promoted to Division 1 as per the domestic structure that was implemented two seasons ago, which replaced the six-team franchise system into two divisions comprising of 15 teams.
The 8-7 two-division split remained the same for the first two years, with a recurring annual automatic promotion and relegation as from the conclusion of the 2023/24 season onwards.
In their first season, the Tuskers were crowned champions of the CSA 1-Day Cup, runners-up in the competition for the 2022-23 season and had competitive results in the different formats.
CSA CEO, Pholetsi Moseki, congratulated KZN-Inland on the historic victory;
“Congratulations to KwaZulu-Natal Inland and the entire AET Tuskers team on gaining promotion to CSA Division 1.
“The automatic promotion and relegation system aims to produce a competitive, high-performance system that will not only increase our talent pool, but also provide opportunity and aspiration for all CSA members.
“The ITEC Knights’ relegation only means that there is a healthy competition in the system which allows our members to build a competitive structure and pipeline that will strengthen the domestic system,” said Moseki.
KZN-Inland CEO, Jason Sathiaseelan, also commended his troops on their historic achievement;
“We are delighted to be the first team to acquire the CSA promotion. After our inclusion in the new structure two years ago, we set about our plans to get promoted at the first instance.
“With a successful first season, the plans were in motion to seek promotion this season although most of our team members were lured to Division 1 teams after the first year. The second year has been challenging but the coaching staff, players and administration staff believed in our journey and vision.”