Ken Borland

The postponement of Cricket South Africa’s hearings for their Social Justice and Nation-Building project offers the ombudsman, Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, the opportunity to sort out the procedural problems that would have occurred if public hearings had gone ahead as scheduled on Monday.

CSA announced at 10pm on Sunday night that the opening day of proceedings had been postponed to ensure a fair and transparent process for all who are involved. “It has become clear that there needs to be clarity regarding the process of any public hearings. Failure to do so may compromise the legitimacy of any process embarked upon. My office will therefore be taking legal counsel as regards a proper process for any such hearings. I therefore welcome the postponement to ensure such procedural fairness,” Ntsebeza said in a statement.

Chief among the procedural problems that need to be sorted out is that it is believed the terms of reference for SJN say any hearings need to be private and confidential. But Ntsebeza wants public hearings and has reportedly even tried to get the SABC to broadcast them.

Public hearings could create other major problems for Ntsebeza and CSA because if any participant makes libellous allegations, it would open the organisation to legal action. There is apparently no scope for cross-examination in the terms of reference.

Former players like Ethy Mbhalati and Thami Tsolekile, both of whom are currently banned for their involvement in matchfixing, last year made public utterances alleging racism in cricket, but when there were shown to be holes in their testimony, they failed to back their allegations up with any evidence. They also tried in vain to reopen their matchfixing cases.

Some of the targets of accusations of anti-transformation bias have expressed concerns that SJN public hearings could become a free-for-all, where untested allegations are made, resulting in a form of mob justice.

Coach Jake White communicated to his Bulls team at the break that they “had not been great” in the first half, but then, with his bench coming on to great effect, he told them at the end of their impressive 43-9 hammering of the Sharks in their Rainbow Cup match at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend that he was “very proud” of them.

The Bulls only led 12-9 at halftime and were entrenched in an almighty arm-wrestle with the Sharks; but their slow poison bore fruit in the second half as they eventually overwhelmed their opponents, finishing with four tries and a bonus point.

“Slowly, slowly, we were able to grind them down because the Sharks are a very good side. The altitude caught up with them in the second half, but we didn’t have a great first half: We allowed too many balls to bounce and I think the Sharks probably won every contestable kick. But I’m very proud of the way we finished. Our forwards were really good and the backs played well in the second half.

“The bench coming on played a vital role and we were in the wonderful position to have two Springbok props on the bench. I wanted a full half from Lizo Gqoboka and Trevor Nyakane and it was great to be able to hold them back because I knew Thomas du Toit and Ox Nche would come hard at us. But our relatively young front row did very well in the first half and then Lizo made a big impact.

“Last week he did the same in setting up the try for Zak Burger and he’s also scrumming very well. He knows there’s an opportunity for him at the Springboks now that Beast Mtawarira has retired. Elrigh Louw was also fantastic for us and in the last 20 we were really able to make the tempo higher because we are really fit,” White said after the memorable triumph.

White once again praised openside flank Marco van Staden – “he has been unbelievable for us, week-after-week putting 150% into everything” – and it seems stupidity at this stage not to have him in the Springbok picture for the Lions series.

Veteran flyhalf Morne Steyn is apparently in the frame for the national squad and he gave a masterclass against the Sharks, deservedly winning the man of the match award. “His kicks through into the corner, turning the Sharks around, just showed his class. He slowly, slowly, squeezed the Sharks until they capitulated,” White said.

The coach also praised captain Duane Vermeulen and his three locks – Walt Steenkamp, Ruan Nortje and Janko Swanepoel – as being stand-out performers.

One never needs to blackmail players to go and tour the beautiful Caribbean, but the Proteas’ heads may have just dropped a bit when the schedule for their series in the West Indies starting next month was released on Friday and it revealed that both Test matches will be played on the island of St Lucia.

The tour starts with the two Tests from June 10-14 and June 18-22, and they will both be hosted by the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground at Gros Islet on St Lucia, a venue where South Africa have never managed to win a cricket match.

It was the venue of their infamous 2007 World Cup semi-final when “Brave Cricket” saw them crash to 27 for five against Australia, who cruised to victory by seven wickets with 111 deliveries to spare.

Their other two games at the then Beausejour Stadium in the hilly north-east of the beautiful tropical island were in the 2010 T20 World Cup when the Proteas lost to both India and Pakistan.

They have never played a Test there but the last five-day game at Gros Islet saw a good cricket pitch on which England beat the West Indies by 232 runs, both fast bowlers and spinners doing well as Mark Wood was man of the match with figures of six for 93 and Moeen Ali took seven for 135. The tourists scored 361 for five declared in their second innings.

Contrary to expectations emanating from the Caribbean that Trinidad would be South Africa’s main base for the tour, Grenada will then host the five T20 Internationals between June 26 and July 3 at the National Cricket Stadium at St George’s. The Proteas’ record there is better, winning all three of their ODIs against the West Indies, but being beaten by New Zealand during the 2007 World Cup on a pitch that made batting very difficult with plenty of assistance for the bowlers.

CSA director of cricket Graeme Smith said the change from the big island of Trinidad, that is closer to the South American mainland, to St Lucia and Grenada was for safety reasons in these times of Covid.

“We have been working with the West Indies cricket board weekly and they decided to go to islands that are safer because of Covid, St Lucia and Grenada have had less cases than other venues,” Smith told Saturday Citizen.

South Africa have not played a Test in the West Indies since June 2010, when Smith himself captained them to a 2-0 series win.

South Africa tour to West Indies fixtures:

Doing well in the Indian Premier League will obviously help, but CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith says free agents will need to prove their total commitment to the Proteas if they are to earn a recall to the national side.

Faf du Plessis, Chris Morris, AB de Villiers and Imran Tahir all put in noteworthy performances before the IPL was suspended earlier this week, one match away from the halfway stage, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many fans would want all four of them to be back in India in October, representing South Africa at the T20 World Cup.

Smith said that while the door was not closed for them to be selected, there were certain conditions that needed to be met first.

Asked specifically about all-rounder Morris, he said “I notice Chris said there have not been discussions with him, but he joined the high performance programme in Lockdown last year. No-one has a definitive right to play for the Proteas, it’s up to the selectors and their performance on the field. Lately Chris’s performances have been really good, both in the IPL and in our T20.

“But we can’t choose someone who is going to go in half-arsed, who is 50/50 about it. We need to know that the player is fully committed and will do everything required and everything for the team. It’s a question that applies to all of the free agents, who are technically still always available for the Proteas. AB de Villiers has officially retired so that’s a different discussion that is ongoing,” Smith said this week.

The West Indies have won two of the last three T20 World Cups despite many of their top players being scattered around the globe, and free agents like Chris Gayle, Samuel Badree and Andre Russell did the business for them in the last tournament, held in 2016 in India.

“The free agents are generally more experienced in the format than most players and we’ve seen the success the West Indies have had using them, so it’s definitely something we would consider. But the selectors also have to consider team dynamics and the type of players we have in our own system.

“Right now the focus is on trying to get the best squad together in the build-up. We have 15-17 T20s lined up, including plenty of sub-continent preparation, so the squad will have plenty of time together. It should be a nice build-up for October,” Smith said.