Ken Borland

Convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson had to explain himself to the board of Cricket South Africa (CSA) in Johannesburg on Wednesday and left with a clearer understanding of his transformation duties, according to acting president Willie Basson.

Hudson and his fellow selectors have been criticised for their handling of wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile, who was given a national contract last year and was assured he would be given an opportunity in the Test side during the current series against New Zealand.

Instead, Tsolekile has been dropped from the squad, having not been given an opportunity to play a single Test on tours of England and Australia, with key batsman AB de Villiers being entrusted with the gloves as the current successor to Mark Boucher.

“Andrew Hudson was invited to address us and he explained the selectors’ thinking in detail. After a long and intensive debate, he left more enlightened and informed about what is required from the selectors in terms of transformation. He has been sensitised to make sure the selectors deal with transformation in the most appropriate way in future,” Basson said at O.R. Tambo International Airport on Wednesday.

Basson confirmed that a mandatory number of Black African players for franchise and national teams is being considered by CSA.

“The target at the moment is four blacks for franchise and national teams, but a stipulation for Black Africans will be coming as part of the strategy of the Transformation Committee,” Basson said.

Basson acknowledged that more needed to be done at the higher levels of cricket in terms of transformation, but he said this had to be part of “a natural, bottom-upwards process”.

“Transformation at school and club level is far advanced – more than 60% of players are black at those levels. Transformation is still in progress at national level, and our efforts have been recognised by the minister of sport.

“But we’re now looking at three levels of transformation because they all have different requirements – national teams, franchises and schools and clubs. The pipeline needs to flow in a natural, bottom-upwards process,” Basson explained.

According to the acting president, Hudson defended the exclusion of Tsolekile because AB de Villiers was a much better batsman than the 32-year-old Highveld Lions wicketkeeper.

“Andrew explained to us the problems faced by the selectors in ensuring the team remains at the highest level and balancing that with the sensitivities of selection in ensuring there are necessary opportunities for everyone. He said it had been a case of AB de Villiers’ tremendous batting ability being more valuable than Tsolekile’s outstanding wicketkeeping and that, according to Andrew, Thami understands the position 100%.

“But the foundation has been laid for much better communication between the selectors, players and the board than in the past,” Basson said.

Basson also confirmed that the appointment of a Black African national selector was “in the pipeline” with nominations now being called for.

The board of Cricket South Africa on Wednesday announced that non-independent, “amateur” directors would continue to form the majority in their new structure, complying with the wishes of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee.

A special general meeting agreed at O.R. Tambo International Airport on Wednesday that the restructured board would comprise five independent directors and seven non-independent directors for a period of 18 months following the AGM on February 2, after which the board would be expanded to include seven independent directors and nine non-independent representatives from each of the national provinces.

“Initially, the seven non-independent directors will come from the ranks of the presidents of the affiliates, before following the due geo-political regions. Of course we are not entirely happy with this, our goal was to have a 5-5 split of directors, but as a member of Sascoc we have to fulfil their criteria and they are very clear about that,” acting president Willie Basson said after the meeting.

“Rugby and cricket will face huge practical problems implementing this, but the new board will continue to engage with Sascoc because we don’t want to set up conflict with them. But we will also try to ensure the board is not too unwieldy.”

Basson said even though non-independent administrators would be in the majority, contrary to the recommendations of the Nicholson Inquiry, the views and skills of independent voices would still be heard on the board.

“We are the only sports body in the country that has as significant a number of independent directors and that will definitely impact the way the board operates in the future. The independent directors will bring greater objectivity and their skills base to the board,” Basson said.

As proposed in the King III report on corporate governance, a lead independent director will be elected to act as a guide for the chairperson of the board. The president of CSA will act as the chairperson of the board.

“The president will have ultimate authority, without question, as recommended by King III and Sascoc is adamant about that as well. The independent, lead director is appointed in case there is conflict between the president and the board and it is a good governance principle,” Basson said.

Basson confirmed that he will continue to act as acting president until the AGM, despite suggestions the board may ask him to step down in the wake of allegations he was involved in Apartheid-era chemical warfare programs.

“I will carry on until the AGM having explained myself for the umpteenth time to the board and they accepted my explanation. It’s very simple: I had been involved for two years in the 1980s with the defensive side of chemical research and since just before 1994 in exactly the same area for the present government structures,” Basson said.

Newly-elected acting president Willie Basson said on Wednesday that his aim as the new head of Cricket South Africa (CSA) was to improve the standard of the administration so that it rivalled the professionalism of the national team on the field.
Basson was elected on Saturday to take over from AK Khan, who was also an acting president before resigning last week in the wake of the Nicholson Inquiry which found CSA chief executive Gerald Majola had “surreptitiously” received 1.8 million rand ($237,000) in unauthorised bonuses from the Indian Premier League, as well as irregular travel expenses, in contravention of the Companies Act.
Khan had headed CSA’s own investigation which cleared Majola of any serious wrongdoing, but which was subsequently described as a “cover-up” by the Nicholson Inquiry.
“A personal motivation for my decision to become involved is a long-standing concern for the large gap between the level of professionalism of the on-field activities as opposed to the off-field activities. This gap is a burning issue. In 40 years of being involved in sport, I’ve never come to terms with how much the players sacrifice but administrators, in general, just bumble along and hardly ever face any consequences, except when they’re up for re-election every two years. It’s a major irritation for me, this obvious weakness has to be aggressively addressed and we have to raise the bar.

“The time has come for those responsible for guiding and executing off-the-field activities to have better game plans, executed more effectively and efficiently,” Basson told a news conference in Centurion on Wednesday.

Having suspended Majola pending an independent disciplinary inquiry as per the recommendations of the Nicholson Inquiry, Basson said the CSA board would now place Judge Chris Nicholson’s other main edict – that the governing body should undergo a review of its corporate structure – in the hands of experts.

“The mere fact that we have acknowledged the Nicholson report and accepted it in principle, means we have laid the foundation to appoint competent people to look at a re-invented cricket system. But it’s essentially a legal document and we need to translate it in the light of practicalities for a sports system, so that it leads to an improvement in the administration of the game,” Basson said.

The veteran cricket administrator was previously the chairman of CSA’s transformation committee and he said this would be a key focus in his term.

“In the light of the minister of sport’s recent comments on the status of transformation in the country’s major sporting codes, it will be a high priority item. The board has recently in principle approved a model that will be considered by the transformation committee tomorrow [Thursday]. A fund to support transformation initiatives at provincial level has also been established and is the first in the country,” Basson said.
Basson said restoring the battered image of CSA would also be one of the board’s areas of focus.

“The complex process of damage control of CSA’s reputation and image on the basis of systematic and on-going communication with stakeholders will be an important focus area. CSA is under no illiusion … cricket is beleagured and its image and reputation have been dented over an extended period of time. Image is any organisation’s biggest asset and the process will require cool heads. We have to pinpoint where our image has been harmed and the reasons for the negative public opinion,” Basson said.