Ken Borland

The management of Cricket South Africa were praised on Saturday for their effective running of the organisation through trying times as a profit of R199 million was announced at the annual general meeting at O.R. Tambo International Airport.

The audited financial statements showed revenue of R810 607 000 for the year ended April 30, 2014, with expenses of R634 092 000. With investment income of R17 324 000 and a net foreign exchange gain of R5 571 000, CSA were able to present a total profit of R199 410 000 for the financial year. This is only R18 million less than the targeted profit despite the calamitous curtailing of the lucrative Indian tour to South Africa late last year.

“Instead of the R200 million loss predicted by some in the media because of the India tour being curtailed, we are less than R20 million short of our target. If you consider the high level of dysfunctionality in governance and the inappropriate responses of the board back in 2010, then the management has been our saving grace. They have put a semblance of normality in place, they had to be creative and resilient and we have moved from crisis to normality,” CSA president Chris Nenzani said at the AGM.

Louis von Zeuner, an independent director, the chairman of the audit and risk sub-committee and a leading businessman, also praised CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat and chief financial officer Naasei Appiah for their efforts.

“We really must applaud management for the way they have dealt with such curtailed income, stabilising cricket in this time of changing financial models. We have a balance on the board between business people and those with the cricket knowledge, so it’s the best of both worlds. If you look at the economy, the exchange rate, the impacts of changes in the international body and sponsors, it’s a totally different environment nowadays,” Von Zeuner said.

Appiah pointed out that cricket’s finances had to be planned over a four-year cycle and this four-year cycle just ended had seen CSA budget for R500 million a year of expenses, which would now increase to R650 million per year for the next four-year cycle.

Lorgat said this success was due to CSA implementing more efficient financial systems.

“We had to generate new revenues, such as the Festival of Cricket, but this did not affect our existing cricket activities. It was untrue when reports said we had to cut programs.

“What did happen was the re-engineering of our operating model, we had to understand exactly how everything worked, through a far more detailed process of measuring and managing, down to such details as ‘how many match balls does an affiliate need?’

“We’re confident that we can control the growth and sustenance of the game because we went into great detail to come up with the numbers. Funds are now allocated exactly according to activity, whereas in the past we used to just divide up the cake,” Lorgat said.

The CEO also said the Future Tours Programme for the next eight years would see a 44% increase in international cricket hosted by South Africa, with an average of 46 days of Proteas action per year, as compared to 32 in the previous FTP.

The money men were particularly looking forward to 2017/18 when four international teams, including India, are scheduled to tour South Africa, with 13 Tests set to be played.

“We’re fortunate to have the world’s best team, so we’re in a good space to be able to work out a profitable FTP, plus South Africa is an attractive destination,” Lorgat added.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/domestic-cricket/news/140913/csa_management_praised_for_r199m_profit

Opponents of the current Gauteng Cricket Board executive committee were left aghast at the AGM on Monday night when nobody from their ranks spoke up against the interim body continuing to run the game in the province.

No election of office-bearers was held as, after hearing the reports of the CEO, Cassim Docrat, and the chief financial officer, Arno Fourie, the club representatives at the AGM failed to bring up any matters for general discussion.

Those clubs looking to overturn the running of cricket by the interim, three-chambered board set up by the Langa Commission had been expected to call for an election at that time.

“We were shocked. We had all these meetings before the AGM to strategize, but when the time came, nobody said anything and nothing happened,” one club representative told Business Day.

The current board, made up of representatives from the black, Indian/coloured and white chambers, will now continue to run Gauteng cricket at least until the end of January. The three chambers will now consult their affiliated clubs and, if they want to change their nominees to the board, that can be done at the next board meeting at the end of next month.

Fourie presented a gloomy financial report that detailed a R7.392 million deficit for Gauteng cricket over the last financial year, while Lions cricket, the professional franchise, made a loss of R1.94 million.

But Fourie said they expected a profit in the next financial year due to Bidvest paying R5.8 million for the naming rights to the Wanderers, more international matches in 2012/13, a once-off Cricket South Africa grant of R3 million and the Highveld Lions’ lucrative participation in the Champions League T20 competition.

FRESH storm clouds are set to gather around Gauteng cricket on Monday night when the Gauteng Cricket Board (GCB) holds its deferred annual general meeting at the Wanderers.

The GCB is being run by an interim board of directors set up by the Langa commission after Cricket South Africa (CSA) took over administration of the union two years ago, after the board sitting at the time became the first to question disgraced CEO Gerald Majola.

That interim board was meant to settle on a new constitution for Gauteng cricket but has failed to reach agreement with the clubs. With its two-year term now over, the future of the current board is uncertain.

It is expected that the board will ask for an extension of its term at the meeting on Monday night, but there is a strong groundswell among the clubs that the current administration should be called to book and replaced.

“The clubs want to vote and they want a new board. The current board are probably going to ask to continue for another six months in order to introduce the new constitution, but if they haven’t been able to do it in two years, why do they think they’ll be able to do it in six months? Besides, the new constitution should not be a private document that only the current board are privy to. We want to elect new representatives to work on the constitution,” a club chairman told Business Day at the weekend.

The legitimacy of the current board has also been called into question following the revelations in the Nicholson Commission of Inquiry that led to Majola being dismissed by CSA and the former GCB board being proven right.

There is a strong desire for self-determination among many Gauteng clubs, who feel they have had no say in the running of cricket in their province for the last two years.

The decision of the board to dismiss Alexandra Cricket Club chairman Dan Phetla, a vocal proponent of control to be returned to the clubs, as a director on Friday night makes it clear the incumbents from the Majola era will not go without a fight.

Thabang Moroe, a fellow director and the chairman of the Black African Cricket Clubs (BACC) grouping, threatened to get the Gauteng Sports Council (GSC) involved in the cricket administration if Phetla was not removed.

The GSC are expected to be present at Monday night’s AGM, with certain clubs accusing the BACC of using them to intimidate those looking to return control of Gauteng cricket to the clubs.

http://www.bdlive.co.za/sport/cricket/2012/12/10/gauteng-cricket-faces-constitution-debacle