Ken Borland

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.”

Cricket South Africa’s Members Council announced on Thursday that they have declined to accept the interim board they themselves were part of compiling, sending them on a collision course with Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa.

The Members Council said in their statement that they will no longer recognise the interim board due to material differences between the two bodies in relation to conflicts of interest, lines of responsibility and accountability, and a breakdown in the relationship between the provincial presidents and the nine would-be directors that were agreed to during the negotiation process between CSA, the Minister of Sport, Sascoc and the South African Cricketers’ Association.

“The Members Council is not prepared to appoint the members of the proposed interim board to be directors of CSA in terms of the MOI. However, the Members Council will continue to work with the Minister, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, and Sascoc on a collaborative basis to address and correct the ills of the past. The basis for the relationship between the parties is clearly prescribed by the law and requires mutual respect by all parties in complying with their obligations,” acting CSA president Rihan Richards said.

By threatening the Minister with legal proceedings, CSA could open themselves up to terrible consequences, including Mthethwa withdrawing their right to represent the country, thereby scuppering the England tour later this month, as well as the upcoming Tests against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia. The financial damage to CSA would be devastating.

Unsurprisingly, CSA’s latest act of defiance has not gone down terribly well with the interim board.

Judge Zak Yacoob, the chairman of the interim board, issued a statement saying the “current situation was untenable” and that they were “determined to continue our work in the public interest and in the best interests of cricket in South Africa”.

“We are thus dismayed to be in receipt of what we can only describe as an obstructionist, legalistic letter from the Members’ Council while we have tried to put structures in place and hold individuals within CSA to account. We are of the view that the conduct of the Members’ Council is an attempt to stymie the work of our Board.

“The Board has been hard at work for the past two weeks since being mandated by the Minister to restore the credibility of CSA. It accepted this mandate publicly and with due care. The failures of corporate governance within Cricket SA are well-known and the cricket-loving public has watched Cricket SA lurch from crisis to crisis,” Yacoob said.

Despite losing three of their desired 23-man squad to Covid, the Sharks are travelling to Kimberley confident that they have the depth to hit peak form against Griquas on Friday night and keep their hopes alive as the Super Rugby Unlocked competition goes into its last two rounds.

Coach Sean Everitt confirmed that one member of the starting XV he wanted to select (probably flank Henco Venter because he was captain last week and is now out of the squad altogether) had tested positive for Covid-19 and two other players who were going to sit on the bench are also isolating because they have had contact with the affected player.

Nevertheless, there is only one debutant in the starting team, former Lions star Anthony Volmink coming in for Manie Libbok at fullback in what is a rotational switch, with the former Blue Bulls player shifting to the bench. The Sharks have also made rotational switches at hooker, lock and wing, while first-choice openside flank James Venter makes a return from injury.

The Sharks, to be led by Currie Cup co-skipper Jeremy Ward on Friday night, are six points behind the log-leading Bulls, and have a game in hand. So if the KwaZulu-Natalians can come away with a bonus point win from Kimberley, then they will be just one point behind heading into the final round.

“The Covid withdrawals haven’t really been a disruption because we were able to move on quite quickly, we had an idea of who we wanted to play and the team has trained well together. You never know initially how many players are going to affected, but fortunately our analysis of training showed there had not been a lot of contact with the guy who tested positive.

“We’ve been taking it one game at a time, but never taking our eyes off the end of the competition, but we haven’t really delivered a top performance yet. We need to get down to work now and hopefully we can come away with a bonus point win which will leave us just one point adrift. The advantage is that we have been rotating guys so everyone has had game time,” Everitt said on Thursday.

While the minnows in Super Rugby often seem to want a disorderly, scrappy game when they come up against the big franchises, Everitt believes Griquas will bring a well-controlled, structured game plan on Friday night.

“Griquas are certainly well-structured, they have clear exit strategies, neat and tidy. Their flyhalf George Whitehead is a seasoned campaigner, he controls the game really well and he was one of the standout players in last year’s Currie Cup. We know coach Scott Mathie from his time with Durban High School, they were free-flowing and played from everywhere, but a different team and situation can change a coach’s philosophy.

“The Stormers showed though against Griquas last weekend that bringing a ball-in-hand approach can create opportunities. But it’s going to be about accuracy and execution for us, we weren’t that good in that respect last weekend, there were a lot of individual errors. And we need to tighten our discipline as well so we don’t give them opportunities. We need to be at the top of our game,” Everitt said.

Teams

Griquas – Masixole Banda, Ederies Arendse, Harlon Klaasen, Johnathan Francke, Eduan Keyter, George Whitehead (captain), Zak Burger, Johan Momsen, Stefan Willemse, Gideon van der Merwe, Cameron Lindsay, Adre’ Smith, Ewald van der Westhuizen, HJ Luus, -Mox Mxoli. Replacements (from): Monde Hadebe, Andrew Beerwinkel, Madot Mabokela, Carl Els, CJ Velleman, Theo Maree, Tinus de Beer, Daniel Kasende, Bandisa Ndlovu, Ewan Coetzee, Ashlon Davids.

Sharks – Anthony Volmink, Yaw Penxe, Jeremy Ward (C), Marius Louw, Madosh Tambwe, Curwin Bosch, Sanele Nohamba, Phendulani Buthelezi, Thembelani Bholi, James Venter, Hyron Andrews, Ruben van Heerden, John-Hubert Meyer, Kerron van Vuuren, Ox Nche. Replacements: Daniel Jooste, Mzamo Majola, Khwezi Mona, JJ van der Mescht, Dylan Richardson, Cameron Wright, Manie Libbok, Sbu Nkosi.

Kickoff – 19:00

What should be an easy win for the Imperial Lions has been put in doubt by the weather, with most of the third afternoon of their 4-Day Domestic Series match against the Cape Cobras being washed out at the Wanderers on Wednesday.

The Lions were bowled out for 324 shortly before lunch on Wednesday, giving them a commanding first-innings lead of 209. When the Cobras then slumped to 22 for three, an innings defeat, possibly even in three days, seemed on the cards, but Tony de Zorzi (16*) and Kyle Verreynne (23*) showed some fight and good judgement as they took the visitors to 54 for three when play was stopped by lightning. That was followed by big thundershowers that washed out play.

The Lions began the day on 222 for seven and, despite the early loss of Nono Pongolo, caught for 2 skying a hook to deep backward square-leg off the Cobras’ best bowler, left-armer Nandre Burger (31.3-11-101-4), Dominic Hendricks and Malusi Siboto eased their way to a valuable ninth-wicket stand of 80, a record for the Lions against the Cobras.

Opener Hendricks showed superb determination in scoring 130 in eight hours and 323 balls at the crease, and is clearly a batsman who really values his wicket, even when conditions are not easy for batting.

Siboto batted with great composure to score 43 not out and then trapped Janneman Malan lbw for 9 to complete a fine day’s work.

Pieter Malan, Janneman’s brother, was also out lbw, falling to Dwaine Pretorius, while Beuran Hendricks claimed his eighth wicket of the match as he had Zubayr Hamza caught in the slips for a single.

In Port Elizabeth, Tabraiz Shamsi enjoyed a superb day as he was able to reach a career-best score of 36 with the bat and then destroyed the Warriors second innings with figures of five for 19 in 12 overs.

The Warriors actually began the day well as they claimed five Titans wickets for 88 runs, reducing the visitors from their overnight 151 for three to 239 for eight. Heinrich Klaasen scored an elegant 68 and Sibonelo Makhanya a classy 58, but when Shamsi came to the crease at No.10, the Titans only had a lead of eight runs.

But Shamsi’s surprising 36, along with 20 from Junior Dala and Okuhle Cele’s nine not out, saw the Titans reach 293 for a useful lead of 62 runs.

The Warriors’ opening bowlers, Glenton Stuurman and Mthiwekhaya Nabe, took three wickets apiece.

The Warriors made a solid enough start to their second innings as they reached 62 for two, but Shamsi then produced a destructive spell of wrist-spin that saw him claim four wickets in five overs as the home side slid to 97 for six at the close.

They are effectively 35 for six, and the Titans will be pushing hard for outright victory on the final day.

In Bloemfontein, the Dolphins are fighting hard to avoid defeat as they closed on 138 for two, with opener Sarel Erwee on 58 not out.

After the loss of Grant Roelofsen for a duck in the second over, caught at fine leg off Migael Pretorius, Erwee and Keegan Petersen (48) added 90 for the second wicket before Petersen was bowled by Patrick Kruger.

Dolphins captain Marques Ackerman then came in and scored freely as he reached 32 not out at stumps.

The Dolphins are trying to chase down a massive target of 471 though, after the Knights declared their second innings on 194 for four, with skipper Pite van Biljon stroking a fine 93 off 125 balls and Farhaan Behardien adding 50 not out.