Ken Borland

Bisho schoolteacher Chris Nenzani became South African cricket’s premier administrator at the weekend, promising a new era for the game as he was elected president and chairman of Cricket South Africa’s board of directors.

Nenzani was the winner of a two-horse race with Western Province’s Beresford Williams and was an optimistic man as he faced a media contingent not yet convinced that Cricket South Africa has really changed its ways.

“We have come from a very difficult period and if you had asked me a year ago if there was a crisis, I would have said ‘Yes’.”

“But we have now gone beyond those trying times and we are looking forward to a very promising future. We will be checking our governance structure to ensure we regain public confidence and we must remember that the role of the administration is to remain in the background while the players are at the forefront,” Nenzani, the president of the Border Cricket Board, said after his election at the Wanderers.

While Nenzani was a popular choice and is a likeable man who distanced himself from fired chief executive Gerald Majola early on in the bonus scandal, CSA’s annual general meeting was notable for the number of administrators who have somehow survived their disgraceful actions – and lack of action – while the game was being looted and embarrassed in this country.

Andy O’Connor, the Easterns president, was at the forefront of the pro-Majola lobby and quite vicious in his criticism of the media over the last couple of years, and yet his name is in the list of seven non-independent directors who will run cricket for the next year alongside five independent appointees.

Northerns president Vincent Sinovich, Free State’s Leon Crawley and North-West’s Archie Pretorius were in the minority in terms of CSA board members who insisted that Majola should face independent investigation and their reward has been to be cast into the relative wilderness.

Norman Arendse, the former president of CSA who then tried to do the jobs of the chief executive and convenor of selectors, is one of the independent directors, in accordance with the recommendation of the nominations’ committee, which just happened to be dominated by people from his home city, Cape Town.

The other independent directors are Wesizwe Platinum’s Dawn Mokhobo, Constitutional Court trustee Vusi Pikoli, Absa’s Louis von Zeuner and Old Mutual chief operating officer Mohamed Iqbal Khan, while the other CSA nominations are Nenzani, vice-president Peter Cyster of Boland, Graeme Sauls (EP), Faeez Jaffar (KZN) and Rihan Richards (GW).

The decision to give the non-independent directors the majority of board places flies in the face of the Nicholson recommendations, but CSA was given the easy way out through the interference of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee [Sascoc], which insisted that the game should be run by “sports people”.

Nenzani admitted that one of the first tasks of the new board would be to reassure the public that it is not lapsing into the bad old ways that forced Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula to institute the Nicholson Inquiry in the first place.

“I wouldn’t say we have backtracked. My understanding is that our restructuring is not just about the composition of the board. As members of Sascoc, we are committed to continuing our engagement with them. We have to get the right balance between independent directors and those with cricketing knowledge,” Nenzani said.

Outgoing acting president Willie Basson described the situation as being “stranded” between Sascoc and the wishes of Mbalula and Judge Nicholson.

“CSA has engaged with the Nicholson process in good faith but in the end found itself stranded between powerful forces and seriously conflicting objectives. Being left stranded between the high aspirations of the Memorandum of Agreement with the minister and Sascoc’s requirements was both uncomfortable and disappointing,” Basson said.

Unfortunately Nenzani sounded like the National Party politicians of old who claimed they willingly ushered the country into democracy when he defended the continued presence of Majola sympathisers on the board by saying: “These are the same people who have taken this process to where we are now, they took it upon themselves to undo what made the public uncomfortable.”

Ah, Mr Nenzani, the CSA board had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the Nicholson Inquiry and it was only thanks to the perseverance of the sports minister and Basson, who the board tried to get rid of, that there has been any reform at all.

The fact that the AGM took place half-an-hour after the start of play on the second day of the Test shows that many of the administrators seemingly have little interest in the actual game. The gravy bowl is perhaps their prime focus and it seems the same old snouts are in it.

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Chris Nenzani was elected as the new president and chairman of the board of directors on Saturday as Cricket South Africa deemed themselves to have emerged from the bonus scandal crisis.

“We have come from a very difficult period and if you had asked me a year ago if there was a crisis, I would have said ‘Yes’.

“But we have now gone beyond those trying times and we are looking forward to a very promising future. We will be checking our governance structure to ensure we regain public confidence and we must remember that the role of the administration is to remain in the background while the players are at the forefront,” schoolteacher Nenzani, the president of the Border Cricket Board, told media after his election at the Wanderers on Saturday.

The annual general meeting was closed to the media, but Nenzani’s only challenger for the post was believed to be Western Province’s Beresford Williams.

Williams is one of the seven non-independent directors elected on to the board, alongside Nenzani, vice-president Peter Cyster (Boland), Andy O’Connor (Easterns), Graeme Sauls (EP), Faeez Jaffar (KZN) and Rihan Richards (GW).

Five independent directors – controversial former CSA president Advocate Norman Arendse, Wesizwe Platinum’s Dawn Mokhobo, Constitutional Court trustee Vusi Pikoli, Absa’s Louis von Zeuner and Old Mutual chief operating officer Mohamed Iqbal Khan – will make up the remainder of the new board.

Non-independent directors will outnumber independents 7-5, but Nenzani said it was unfair for this to be classified as CSA backtracking on its agreements to implement the recommendations of the Nicholson Inquiry into their corporate governance after their former chief executive, Gerald Majola, was implicated in receiving improper bonus payments.

“I wouldn’t say we have backtracked. My understanding is that our restructuring is not just about the composition of the board. As members of Sascoc [the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee], we are committed to continuing our engagement with them. We have to get the right balance between independent directors and those with cricketing knowledge,” Nenzani said.

Acting president Willie Basson, in his outgoing address, said “the incoming board will be faced with a major challenge to comply with Sascoc’s requirement of increasing the non-independent directors on the board to nine representing the geopolitical regions.

“CSA has engaged with the Nicholson process in good faith but in the end found itself stranded between powerful forces and seriously conflicting objectives. Being left stranded between the high aspirations of the Memorandum of Agreement with the Minister [of Sport Fikile Mbalula] and Sascoc’s requirements was both uncomfortable and disappointing.”

South Africa enjoyed a position of complete dominance on 207 for three, leading by 411, after the second day of the first Test against Pakistan at the Wanderers on Saturday, set up by Dale Steyn’s astonishing bowling earlier in the day.

Steyn took six for eight in 8.1 overs as Pakistan were shot out for just 49, the lowest total in their Test history, worse than the 53 they scored against Australia in Sharjah in 2002/3.

It was the third time South Africa had dismissed a team for less than 50 in the last two seasons. Only England, against Australia in 1887/88 and twice versus South Africa in 1888/89, have done this before.

South Africa bowled Australia out for 47 at Newlands in November 2011 and New Zealand for 45 at the same venue last month.

Pakistan’s 49 is also the lowest ever Test score at the Wanderers, the previous worst being 72 by South Africa against England in 1956/57.

Steyn’s magnificent swing bowling, backed by two wickets apiece from Jacques Kallis and Vernon Philander, gave South Africa a 204-run first-innings lead and, after declining to enforce the follow-on, they cruised to 207 for three in 53 overs before stumps.

Coming into bat soon after lunch, Steyn taking the last three Pakistan wickets without conceding a run, openers Graeme Smith (52) and Alviro Petersen (27) were quickly into their stride as they compiled an opening stand of 82 in 21 overs.

Umar Gul removed both openers just four overs into the post-tea session and South Africa then slipped to 99 for three when Jacques Kallis (7) skied an attempted sweep off Saeed Ajmal into the hands of Asad Shafiq at deep midwicket.

But Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers attacked to great effect as they added 108 off 159 balls before stumps, both completing unbeaten half-centuries.

Pakistan had begun the second day on six without loss after making a fine start to the series on day one, but their first innings was a procession of batsmen as Steyn took advantage of their lack of footwork in bowler-friendly conditions.

He ripped through the top-order with ease, having Mohammad Hafeez (6) caught behind off a superb away-swinger, trapping Nasir Jamshed (2) lbw and then having veteran Younis Khan caught in the slips for a duck in his first two overs.

Kallis then removed Azhar Ali (13) and Pakistan captain Misbah ul-Haq (12) with aggressive short-pitched bowling, before an incisive two-wicket burst just before lunch by Philander reduced the visitors to 40 for seven at the break.

Steyn then made an impressive return after lunch, having Saeed Ajmal caught behind off a precise away-swinger and then snaring Sarfraz Ahmed in his next over, wicketkeeper AB de Villiers again taking the catch.

Rahat Ali was then caught at fourth slip by Faf du Plessis for a duck off Steyn to complete a top-class catching display behind the wicket by South Africa, wicketkeeper De Villiers finishing with six catches, a career-best that equalled the national record shared by Denis Lindsay and Mark Boucher (four times).

Graeme Smith showed that his head was still cool, calm and collected when he won the toss and elected to bat first amid all the hype and hullabaloo at the Wanderers on Friday morning.

Smith was celebrating his 32^nd birthday and also the momentous milestone of becoming the first cricketer to play 100 Tests as captain, so Johannesburg, his place of birth, was abuzz with tributes and Biff-mania.

There was a great sense of expectation that the world’s number one side would honour their magnificent leader by blowing Pakistan away at the Bullring and the pitch was sporting enough grass for many to back the idea of unleashing the potent South African pace attack.

But Smith, courageously and unselfishly, saw the cracks already present and reckoned it would be preferable to bat out a tough opening session rather than have to bat last.

It was the correct decision for the team, despite Smith, as an opening batsman, having to come out and face the music straight away.

The left-hander was by no means on top of his game, but he and Alviro Petersen added 46 for the first wicket as they saw off the new ball in the first hour-and-a-half. South Africa were on their way and, even though Smith (24) and Petersen (20) fell within five balls of each other before lunch, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis put the hosts back on top as they carried them to 125 for two midway through the afternoon session.

But the South African batsmen seemed to have other matters on their minds – could they have been distracted by all the Smith hype? – and they frittered away their remaining eight wickets for just 128 runs, nothwithstanding a 64-run fifth-wicket stand between AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis.

It was a similar experience for a Wanderers crowd of just under 10 000 on Friday to the much-anticipated Test against Australia in 2011 when South Africa, 1-0 up in the two-match series, won the toss, batted first and were bowled out for 266 in just 71 overs on the first day by an attack that was one man short. South Africa were 122 for two and 241 for four on that day, and a less cavalier attitude would have seen them score at least 400 and shut Australia out of a series they went on to share.

After De Villiers and Du Plessis fell just before the second new ball was due, Dean Elgar was left alone with the tail and when he tickled off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez down the leg-side into the gloves of impressive wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed, the off-spinner was able to run through the lower-order and finish with a career-best four for 16.

Lady Luck had not smiled on the left-hander and she was also blamed for the dismissal of Du Plessis, who felt that the delivery that he had played on to his stumps from Junaid Khan had kept low.

But there was no doubting South Africa’s batsmen had put on a distracted, unfocused display, while Pakistan were disciplined with the ball, brilliant in the field and thoroughly deserved their success.

“From 199 for four, we should have got more and there was not enough from the bottom six, but it was quite tough for batsmen coming in. We were looking for 320 as par, but when AB and myself were together we thought we could get 350 which would have been very good. We got ourselves in position … ” Du Plessis said.

To get only 253 was a particularly poor effort when one considers everyone in the top seven made at least 20, but Kallis was the top-scorer with just 50. Smith and Kallis both played badly-executed shots, although Asad Shafiq, who had to make considerable ground around the leg-side boundary, took a fine catch to dismiss the latter.

Everything Pakistan captain Misbah ul-Haq touched turned to gold on Friday and even part-time medium-pacer Younis Khan was able to make a crucial breakthrough when he removed Amla for 37, thanks to Azhar Ali hanging on to a screamer at gully.

The current Proteas management fobs off criticism of their decision to make De Villiers keep wicket and play a specialist batsman at seven, but there is a hint that the policy is engendering a rather devil-may-care attitude amongst the top-order. With so many batsmen, there seems to be a feeling that someone else can finish the job if I score a breezy 40, much like the 90 for five syndrome in the 1990s when South Africa had tremendous batting depth with Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje in the lower-order.

Pakistan openers Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed fended off an over apiece from Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn at the end of the day and the South African attack will need to strike early on the second morning if they are to make up for an off-colour display by their batsmen.

Questions will be asked as to just how mentally sharp South Africa were on the opening day and it is difficult to shrug off the feeling that they were distracted by all the hype around Smith. Hopefully the Proteas can return to their clinical best on Saturday and ensure Smith has a suitable celebration.

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