OPINION | Why SA will put on a champagne CWC 2027

News24 Sport chief writer

There’s enough of a crammed roster and important cricket in the intervening period to make it understandable for people to overlook a gladdening development: South Africa staging the 2027 World Cup.

In a well overdue occurrence, the country returns to the men’s major-tournament limelight in just over four years – it is earmarked for early summer, around October/November – as it leads a triumvirate of nations (including neighbours Zimbabwe and Namibia) in hosting the 50-overs jamboree.

Still the more auspicious of the two versions of the World Cup, considering that the Twenty20 version is less established, it will be the 14th edition of the longer-form limited-overs event – the next is later this year in India -- and SA’s first taste of staging it since 2003, meaning a gap of nearly quarter of a century.

Here are just half a dozen reasons why I am bullish it WILL be a good ‘un:

1 SA is becoming symbolic home of the international white-ball humdinger

The “438 game” and now the all-new “259 game” … a common thread is that two of the most breath-taking limited-overs internationals ever witnessed globally happened right here.

Records tumbled at will in both thrill rides, Sunday’s T20 international between the Proteas and West Indies at SuperSport Park – the first to sport 500-plus runs between any set of protagonists – quickly sparking nostalgic memories of THAT series-decisive ODI between SA and Australia at the nearby Wanderers in 2006.

While both epic contests provided veritable nightmares for bowlers, the relevant, pyrotechnic batting exploits of Herschelle Gibbs (175), Graeme Smith (90), Ricky Ponting (164), Johnson Charles (118), Quinton de Kock (100) and Reeza Hendricks (68) will live long in the