Ken Borland

The Imperial Lions, denied an important victory in their last match by the weather, will now look to block the rapid advance of the Knights team in Pool A of the CSA 4-Day Domestic Series at the Wanderers from Monday in a clash between the defending champions and probably the form team in the competition thus far.

And the Lions will need to stop the Knights juggernaut with a team missing half-a-dozen of the players who featured in the first two rounds because they are in the extended Proteas squad. Fortunately the Lions have the depth to ensure the replacements coming in to take on the Knights are not rookies – opening batsman Josh Richards is the youngest of the lot at 21 and he has already played six times for the Lions.

Other players likely to feature are Kagiso Rapulana, who averaged 84.40 for the Lions in 2018/19 and Sisanda Magala, who has been on the fringes of the Proteas squad, while aggressive batsman Wesley Marshall and all-rounder Delano Potgieter are probably competing for one place, as are spinner Aaron Phangiso and paceman Tladi Bokako.

Unfortunately for the Lions, swing bowler Eldred Hawken, their player of the season for 2019/20, is still out injured.

The other form team in the tournament, the Titans, now return home after two excellent wins on the road as they host the Warriors, the team they beat by eight wickets in their previous fixture. While the Lions have been forced to change tack by Proteas call-ups, the Titans are way less affected and their team has a more stable look.

The top-order batting strength remains with Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram and Theunis de Bruyn all ignored for the national white-ball squad, and the absence of ace spinner Tabraiz Shamsi probably won’t be as badly felt at home, where spin plays a bit part on a typical SuperSport Park pitch. Neil Brand is likely to replace Heinrich Klaasen in the top-five batting and is also a handy left-arm spinner to cover that base.

“It’s nice to see things happening so early in the season, but we know it is still the beginning and there is a long way to go. What’s happened in the first two weeks is history now and the next page of the journey is what we’re now looking forward to starting from Monday. We’ll have to be wary and just make sure we keep ticking all the boxes from our side and carry on with the processes we’ve been carrying out as planned. It will be our first home game as well and we want to start it well,” Titans coach Mandla Mashimbyi said.

The third round’s other fixture sees the Dolphins trying to return to winning ways as they host the Cape Cobras, who fought back to secure a draw against the Lions, at Kingsmead.

The Titans and the Knights were the big winners in the second round of the 4-Day Domestic Series with their emphatic triumphs in the cities of Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein respectively, while the Cobras managed to hold out for a draw against the Imperial Lions in Johannesburg.

Tabraiz Shamsi was the hero of the Titans’ eight-wicket win over the Warriors as he showed just how mature he now is as a spinner in all formats. The 30-year-old certainly has put his name up in the big leagues now as his phenomenal figures of eight for 32 saw him break Dale Steyn’s record for the best ever figures for the franchise – the eight for 41 the legendary fast bowler took against the then Eagles in Bloemfontein in 2007/8.

Shamsi’s sheer dominance saw the Warriors spun out for just 124 in their second innings, leaving the Titans with just 63 to win, which they knocked off in nine overs for the loss of two wickets.

The Dolphins were under the cosh against the Knights for the first three days of their match, but they would have approached Thursday as a bright new day with a bit of optimism as they resumed on 138 for two with Sarel Erwee and Marques Ackerman well set.

But captain Ackerman was bowled for 32 by left-armer Mbulelo Budaza in the second over of the day and the same bowler later removed Erwee, for a dogged 81, caught at first slip.

The Dolphins then subsided to 243 all out, giving the Knights victory by 227 runs. Fast bowler Migael Pretorius did most of the later damage as he finished with four for 52.

George Linde has made a superb all-round impression in South African cricket over the last couple of years and on Thursday he added to his wickets in the first round by scoring a match-saving 70 not out in 195 minutes for the Cobras against the Lions at the Wanderers.

Nandre Burger, who has joined the Cape side from the Lions this season, scored a valiant 37 not out in over two hours at the crease as he and Linde put on an unbroken 95 for the eighth wicket to steer the Cobras to safety on 302 for seven.

Kyle Verreynne has also blossomed in recent seasons and he scored 72 as he and Tony de Zorzi (67) gave the Cobras a crucial solid start to the final day, putting on 136 for the fourth wicket.

Left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks took three for 56 for the Lions to give him outstanding match figures of 10 for 85.

It has not been a good start to their title defence for the Lions, with the Dolphins thumping them in Durban and now the weather denying them victory this week.

Interim board chairman Judge Zak Yacoob has pointed to the poor faith Cricket South Africa’s Members Council has shown in agreeing to the process but now withdrawing when the interim board is not toeing the Members Council line.

The Members Council announced on Thursday that they would not recognise the legitimacy of the interim board, creating yet another crisis in South African cricket and once again dragging Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa into the chaos to try and resolve the power struggle.

”We were publicly mandated by the Minister to serve as an  independent interim board to resolve well-aired difficulties faced by CSA over the years, and, over the next three months, to try and ensure an AGM by the end of that time so that an independent, untainted board would take CSA forward with integrity,” Yacoob said in a statement on Thursday after CSA’s bombshell announcement.

“We understood that there was an agreement between the Minister and the Members Council on exactly who was to be appointed and the Members Council undertook to formalise the appointment so that the interim independent board would have the necessary authority and power to clean up cricket in South Africa.

“The Members Council, acting mainly through its Acting President, has adopted the strategy to pretend to co-operate in the process but ensured that every effort was made to obstruct our work. It is for this reason and only for this reason that the interim board has not been appointed. The reasons given have no substance and do not begin to stand scrutiny, Yacoob said.

The retired Constitutional Court Justice went on to provide details of the power struggle currently enveloping South African cricket.

“We dispute that the board should be accountable to theMembers Council in every way.  Each of these entities have their own powers and responsibilities in terms of the relevant enabling provisions. It occurs to us that the realreasonis to prevent us from doing our work independently and outside Members Council control.  We refuse to subject ourselves to anycontrol and sacrifice our independence in the performance of our duties and in the interests of cricket.

“The Members Council should also remember that the executive is accountable to the board … and notthe other way round. We assumed that the Members Council would act honourably and confirm our appointment. We therefore acted as the Board and gave instructions to the executive. The executive balked at this because they were too accustomed to doing what they wanted to do without any accountability. They apparently complained and the Members Council was somehow, morally wrongly, persuaded to take up their cudgels … in support of the executive for no justifiable reason,” Yacoob said.

The presence of former CEO Haroon Lorgat, whose removal in September 2017 began Cricket South Africa’s slide into chaos, is obviously the major stumbling block for the Members Council and the chief reason for them refusing to recognise the interim board they originally agreed to collaborate with to avoid further intervention from Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa.

Acting CSA president Rihan Richards tried to deny their refusal to play ball was down to their objection to an individual, but in his other statements during a press conference on Thursday afternoon he clearly identified Lorgat as the seed of their discontent.

“The chairman of the interim board [Zak Yacoob] said they should be appointed as directors on an unqualified basis or they were no longer willing to take part. We said we were not prepared to accept Haroon Lorgat as a director but then it was not the subject of further discussion. Until this conflict of interest is resolved, which I cannot go into exact details about, we believe the interim board has no legal standing in relation to the company.

“This is not about an individual but about the manner in which our concerns have been addressed, it is almost prescriptive, and we have raised issues around other persons as well. There has been a breakdown in our relationship, the lines of responsibility have been blurred. This is not a U-turn on our behalf, we just want to ensure the process remains credible,” Richards said on Thursday.

Richards said the control of cricket now lies with “the Members Council and the small board [comprising himself, Donovan May, John Mogodi and Zola Thamae] overlooking matters”. But the interim board issued their own statements on Thursday saying they will continue with the mandate entrusted to them by the sports minister.

“This interim board was appointed by the Minister in a way that circumvented the MOI,” Richards claimed. “We are unfairly being called obstructionist but they are not addressing our concerns, we have raised them with the Minister and they have not been addressed to our satisfaction. We have nothing to hide and we still want to engage all stakeholders, but it is our responsibility to ensure the game is administered to the best of ability.

“Sascoc has always been part of the process, but the manner in which they have engaged with CSA is the problem. The Members Council are elected representatives and our actions are not based on self-interest. This is not about the Members Council. I want to be very clear that we do not want conflict with the Minister, we are mindful of his rights but we have taken legal advice from outside lawyers over what is our responsibility to the public and the ICC.”