A minimum of six black players must be selected for the South African national team across all three formats ©Getty Images

A minimum of six black players must be selected for the national team across all three formats under new racial quota regulations established by Cricket South Africa (CSA).

Two of the players have to be black African, the CSA said when confirming the rules would be in place for Tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20 matches.

They will be similar to the quotas in Provincial cricket in the country, where six players also have to be black and three must be black African.

CSA believe the "targets" will be “very attainable”, with a number of black cricketers, including Kagiso Rabada, already prominent members of South Africa’s teams.

"The Test starting XI that played in the recent series against New Zealand contained six players of colour and two Black Africans, and the ODI starting XI had as many as eight players of colour in their most recent series against the West Indies and Australia,” CSA President Chris Nenzani said in a statement.

"With the targets being measured over the full season and being cumulative across all three formats, our selectors and team management will have the flexibility to deal with varying circumstances.

"This shows very clearly that the targets are very attainable and sustainable and we will maintain the world-class standards that our players regularly produce."

South African Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula has put a ban in place on four of the country's national governing bodies bidding for major events due to the lack of black representatives ©Getty Images
South African Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula has put a ban in place on four of the country's national governing bodies bidding for major events due to the lack of black representatives ©Getty Images

The move comes amid continued criticism over the apparent lack of black players in top-level sport in South Africa from Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula.

CSA was one of four sporting governing bodies in South Africa which Mbalula banned from bidding for major events, along with athletics, netball and rugby, because they had all missed transformation targets.

Mbalula’s choice to suspend the four Federations from bidding came after they agreed on various transformation goals with the Government back in 2014, aimed at increasing the amount of black people playing sport.

He claimed they had failed to meet them and thus placed a ban on attempting to secure the hosting rights for major events on each Federation.

Mbalula is not due to make a decision on whether to lift the ban on bidding until March 2017.

He is then he is scheduled to review the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) report.

SA Rugby has already defied the ban, however, by submitting a candidacy for the 2023 World Cup.

South Africa's are due to play Ireland in a one-day international at Willowmoore Park in Gauteng on September 25 in their next match.