Cricket South Africa will no longer apply fitness standards as rigidly as earlier, so both their male and female athletes who fail to complete their two-kilometre run in the required time, or whose skinfolds are above recommended measures, will still be permitted to play on the national coaches' discretion.

However, in a document circulated to players, and seen by ESPNcricinfo, CSA continues to "strongly recommend" that those who do not meet the minimum fitness standard "should not take the field in an official match". The coaches concerned are Rob Walter (men's white-ball team), Shukri Conrad (men's red-ball team) and Hilton Moreeng (women's team).

"We had a medical conference in June and we decided to allow the medical team to work out a getter forward. We recognised we need a level of flexibility. We also trust the coaches to make the right decisions as they know the environment," Enoch Nkwe, CSA's Director of Cricket told ESPNcricinfo.

The change came after South Africa were forced to bench several key members, including former captain Dane van Niekerk, wicketkeeper-batter Lizelle Lee, and death-bowling specialist Sisanda Magala last year after all of them failed to meet the fitness requirements. While van Niekerk and Magala couldn't complete over-ran their time in the two-kilometre run, Lee's weight was over the required amount and she was going to be denied a no-objection certificate to play in overseas leagues.

Van Niekerk and Lee have both since retired, while Magala passed the test and was part of South Africa's most accurate ODI squad.

For the 2023-24 season, the "fit-to-play" standard remains the same for the national men's and women's players. Male players have to run two kilometres in under 8.30 minutes and have an overall skinfold count of 85mm or less, and women have to complete the same distance in under 9.30 minutes with skinfolds at 100mm or less. The men's provincial players will be held to the same standard as the international players, while the women's domestic players have some leeway and must run two kilometres in 10.15 minutes or under with skinfolds measuring less than 120mm.

"I don't forsee any challenges in terms of players not passing the tests," Nkwe said.

CSA has also created an elite standard for players who run two kilometres in under 7.45 minutes for men and under 9.00 minutes for women, and will aim to "encourage and drive all professional players to reach elite standards". There is no indication of whether there is an additional incentive for excellence.

"That is what is ultimately expected of players," Nkwe said. "We want to live in the lane of excellence. There is a different thinking now."

Players will be tested twice during a season: once just before competition starts in September and again mid-season, in December-January. It is recommended that the two-kilometre test begins with ten minutes of running and dynamic stretching, and walking is permitted during the trial. The run must be completed outdoors, preferably on an athletic track, and no indoor or treadmill running is permitted.

Van Niekerk's final test was done on a treadmill, which she failed by 18 seconds and resulted in her being left out of the T20 World Cup squad. From information gathered by ESPNcricinfo at the time, South Africa were the only country applying fitness standards in such a rigid manner. While England and Australia have used the 8.30-minute benchmark for men's players as an indicator of fitness, none of them were left out of a squad for failing to meet the marks - albeit there were very few examples of players not being able to run two kilometres in this time.

The British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) successfully argued at a High Court hearing on Friday that the GMC should be included in a judicial review over the fairness of the clinical skills assessment part of the MRCGP exams. The GMC will now be a defendant in the review alongside the RCGP.

BAPIO argues that the CSA is unfair because of the difference in pass rates between white UK graduates and international medical graduates.

Mrs Justice Patterson today ruled that the GMC should be included in the action because of its duty as public sector body to ensure equality. She said that it was 'arguable' that the GMC had failed to ensure equality. But she said the regulator would not have to answer claims of direct or indirect discrimination.

The RCGP, however, will face discrimination claims when the judicial review is heard, possibly as soon as February or March next year. The review is likely to last around three days.

The court heard that there are currently a total of 50 CSA cases before employment tribunals in Manchester and London. But they are not expected to be heard before the judicial review is concluded.

The failure rate for first CSA attempts is 4.5% for white UK candidates and 17.1% for UK BME candidates. For international medical graduates, the failure rate is 47.7% for white candidates and for 65.2% for BME candidates. For white EU candidates, the failure rate is 32.3% and for BME EU candidates, it is 68.8%.

BAPIO’s solicitor William O'Neill, partner at Linder Myers Solicitors, said: ‘The GMC sets the standards for postgraduate medical education and training and has public sector equality duties, including ensuring that each element of its examination system is fair. We believe that it has failed to do this specifically in relation to the CSA making today’s decision the correct decision.

‘The ruling has added further gravitas to the case and we will continue with proceedings against both the RCGP and the GMC which we hope will effect a long-term positive change ensuring fairness across the examination system for all GPs, regardless of ethnicity.’

In July, the High Court granted BAPIO a judicial review against the RCGP but not the GMC.

The RCGP has rejected claims about discrimination in the MRCGP exam. A spokesman said earlier this month: ‘We take equality and diversity issues very seriously and strongly refute any allegations that the MRCGP test is discriminatory.'

GMC acting chief executive Paul Philip said: ‘We accept today’s decision by Mrs Justice Patterson to supply limited permission to include the GMC within the scope of the judicial review.

'This permission relates solely to public sector equality duty. We will look carefully at the judge’s order. We will not be commenting further on this ahead of the hearing.’

INDIA TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA, 2021-22

Centurion has been announced as the venue for the opening South Africa-India Test © Getty

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