Ken Borland

Just four months ago, the Blue Bulls Rugby Union was in a sorry state with Frans Ludeke about to be axed as coach, the SuperRugby side ending a miserable campaign with a humiliating loss at home to the Cheetahs, and the players, management and administrators all pulling in different directions.

The atmosphere at Loftus Versfeld was so bad and so stuck in its ways that I called them dinosaurs in this same column.

But since then, there has been rapid evolution and their fortunes have soared with new coach Nollis Marais taking them to a home semi-final in the Currie Cup, playing a fresh, invigorating brand of rugby that has brought the crowds back to Loftus Versfeld, and giving much of the young talent that was being unused and growing frustrated the chance to shine.

Marais has already received his reward in that he has been confirmed as the SuperRugby coach and he has been given a four-year contract, an incredible sign of faith from a Bulls board that has never been known for its willingness to take a chance.

But CEO Barend van Graan said the sight of families returning in droves to Loftus Versfeld made it an easy decision.

“We can see how the tide has turned the last few weeks and attendances have been double what they were compared to last year, nearly the same as for SuperRugby games. Not many applicants reached the standards we require and it was not a difficult decision, Nollis had the inside track because of what has happened in the Currie Cup.

“Our expectations are high, if not I’m sure we would have only given him a one or two-year contract. But we have a lot of confidence in Nollis and he now has the opportunity to build for the next four years. He’s already brought through a number of young, excellent players,” Van Graan said.

While Marais has thoroughly updated the Bulls’ style of play, credit must also go to Van Graan and his board for realising that they need to adapt as well. The CEO said the BBRU would need to adjust their strategies.

“There are decreasing White numbers in our area, the whole demographic of Pretoria is changing dramatically. There are eight PSL teams in Gauteng, plus one each in North-West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, so this is a soccer region. The average crowd for a PSL game is 5000.

“Twenty-eight percent of the Blue Bulls’ support comes from the Eastern Cape and 98% of that is Black, most of whom don’t have pay-TV at home. So we have to revise our strategy and penetrate new markets. In the last five years, we have seen a decline of more than 70% on the number of tickets sold at the ground. People just buy tickets on the internet now and they’re no longer buying season tickets,” Van Graan pointed out.

The Bulls have earned a reputation for being aggressive recruiters of junior players, but their showcase teams have also suffered due to a revolving door of players leaving or losing their contracts.

“Since 2011, we have lost 57 players, a lot of them to the Euro, Yen and British Pound. But things are cyclical in a team sport, you have to let guys go, but perhaps we released too many players, in hindsight. The last six or seven SA U21 captains have come from here, but our Currie Cup side will be even younger next year so we need to be smart in our recruiting. We need to fast-track talent, but only five percent of the schools in our region play rugby,” Van Graan said.

Marais has given the Bulls a new lease of life on the field and credit should also be given to Van Graan and the board for identifying the new direction the BBRU has to take. If they continue along this path, there’s no reason why the Bulls shouldn’t in time become the most powerful union in the country again.

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Cricket South Africa counted the cost last year of their summer of Test cricket being disrupted, but CEO Haroon Lorgat is optimistic that the current troubles between the West Indies and their administrators will not lead to another international tour to these shores being severely curtailed or cancelled.

The West Indies team are currently on strike and at loggerheads with both their own players’ association (Wipa) and the board (WICB), having pulled out of their tour to India after just four ODIs. If the impasse is not resolved before December, then they may have to send a second-string outfit to South Africa or the tour might be cancelled.

But Lorgat is confident that the issues will be resolved and the best West Indian team will tour, particularly if they accept the offer of assistance from the Federation of International Cricketers Association (Fica), headed by South African Tony Irish.

“I’ve spoken to the West Indies board in the last 24 hours and they are reasonably confident that they will be able to keep their promise and tour here. I’m optimistic that they’ll be able to work through their issues.

“In two weeks’ time the RamSlam T20 Challenge starts here and I was told that the NOCs [No-Objection Certificates] would be granted to the West Indian players involved. There are some big players coming here, including captain Dwayne Bravo, and I’ll be able to talk to them then.

“Plus Tony Irish has offered his assistance, so there are many angles we can work from. The West Indian players are always keen to come to South Africa, so although it’s early days and there’s still lots of emotion, I’m quite confident that we’ll get things worked out,” Lorgat told The Citizen yesterday.

An important ace in CSA’s hands is that the tour to South Africa is the West Indies’ last before the World Cup and Lorgat said there is an eagerness amongst the Caribbean players to perform in that showpiece event.

“The players don’t want to miss out on the World Cup so I’m sure sanity will prevail. It could have been worse: it’s an explosive situation that has been simmering for a while and it could have happened while they were in South Africa!” Lorgat pointed out.

The current strike is the fourth to have affected West Indies cricket over the last decade or so and is centred on Wipa president Wavell Hinds signing a new collective bargaining agreement that results in a significant paycut for the players, as high as 70% for some.

The WICB are now holding the players to that signed contract. Wipa happens to have acted similarly a few years ago when the then-WICB chief executive mistakenly signed a deal giving the players $35 000 more per match-day.

Irish, who rose to the post of executive chairperson of Fica in June, told The Citizen that he had to offer his assistance because “the implications of this issue go far beyond West Indies cricket”.

It seems the administrators on Cricket South Africa’s board have been involved in the wrong sport all these years. Given how capable they are of back-flipping and bending over backwards to Olympian proportions, gymnastics would seem to be a much better option for them.

Wednesday’s special general meeting in Johannesburg saw them agree to comply with the view of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee that sport should be run by “sportspeople”. Or, to put it in plainer English, by amateur administrators who have thus far generally shown more talent for feasting on the gravy-train than for delivering excellence on the field.

Despite cricket now being a multi-million rand enterprise in which administrators are expected to understand the complexities of corporate law as well as broadcasting rights, player contracts and the marketing of the game, CSA’s restructured board will once again be dominated by non-independent directors, voted in by the provinces, in direct contradiction of the recommendations made by the Nicholson Inquiry after the ruling body had mired itself in all sorts of trouble and humiliation due to their poor governance, led by the shenanigans of their CEO, Gerald Majola.

Sascoc says amateurs running the game is the way to go, despite their own appalling record in terms of delivering sporting success, and the amateurs sitting on the CSA board have agreed, marking a 180 degree flip from their assurances last year that they would follow the recommendations of Judge Chris Nicholson, thus restoring public and sponsor confidence.

“The restructured board will comprise five independent directors and seven non-independent directors for a period of 18 months following the AGM on 2 February. The seven non-independent directors will come from the ranks of the presidents of the affiliates.

“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.

“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 CSA president Willie Basson said after the meeting at OR Tambo International Airport.

But for those who are dismayed that the non-independent, amateur brigade will still be in the majority on the CSA board, it gets worse.

CSA’s press release on the outcomes of the meeting says: “After a period of 18 months the board will be increased to comprise seven independent members and nine geopolitical non-independent representatives”.

Board meetings will now be as crowded as a Cape Town beach at the end of the year and Nicholson’s suggestion that the administration be streamlined and headed by captains of industry and the best legal and marketing minds has been thrown out of the window.

Sascoc is also now forcing CSA to follow its dysfunctional model of everyone and their cousin getting seats on the gravy train. Instead of concentrating on delivering results, Sascoc has a history of administrators going to town and enjoying the new riches and prestige being involved in sport offers in the age of professionalism.

Sascoc’s model also stipulates that all nine of the country’s provinces must have seats at the top table, meaning the likes of Mpumalanga and Limpopo will have the same say as the six professional franchises.

Fortunately for their own sanity, Basson and gatvol acting chief executive Jacques Faul will no longer be around to preside over this bloated administration as both will step down at the AGM now scheduled for 2 February.

There had been suggestions that Basson would not even get to chair Wednesday’s meeting after allegations surfaced that he had been involved in chemical warfare projects during the Apartheid era.

But the transformation guru had his explanation down pat and the board have agreed that he will continue to act as president until the AGM.

“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.

Convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson was another who agreed (as if he had a choice!) to chat to the board on Wednesday, with the selectors’ handling of wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile being the key issue.

While many would wish for a specialist gloveman and useful batsman being in the Test team to lessen the load on AB de Villiers, Hudson apparently explained that De Villiers was more valuable to the team playing as a wicketkeeper/batsman.

The push for better Black African representation in the national team is only going to get stronger, though, and Basson said his board wanted the situation to improve.

“The target at the moment is four blacks [players of colour] 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.

A Black African member of the national selection panel is also a firm possibility.

Basson acknowledged that more needed to be done to ensure a greater number of Black Africans were featuring in top-class cricket, 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. A pipeline needs to flow in a natural, bottom-upwards process,” Basson explained.

While Hudson must have left the airport in sheepish fashion, the gall of the CSA board remains untouched.

How dare it ignore the findings of a judge appointed by the sports minister?

The answer is simple: Sascoc, not wanting its own chaotic, amateurish administration to be shown up by a professionally-run major sport, have suppressed chances of progress in cricket safe in the knowledge that it is politically in the right camp after Mangaung.

Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, who has tirelessly pushed for change in cricket, is however surely on the way out after taking on President Jacob Zuma’s camp and losing.

The lil’ men with big appetites on the CSA board know that in a short while, nobody will be watching them anymore and they can return to the life of luxury they enjoyed in the Majola days.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-01-10-cricket-sa-bosses-nicholson-who