Ken Borland

Eastern Cape Cricket on Thursday called on Cricket South Africa (CSA) to do “something tangible to put an end to racism at all levels of the sport”, perhaps unaware that the national body had already released a statement the previous night placing on record all the initiatives they have already implemented to ensure transformation of the cricket system.

CSA also reaffirmed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement and said it welcomed both Lungi Ngidi’s initial statement in this regard and the letter of support made by 36 Black coaches and former players.

CSA said they have spent nearly R385 million on cricket transformation and development in the 2019/20 financial year alone and will continue to invest resources in those programs. They pointed out that 10 of the 12-person CSA Board, including president Chris Nenzani and vice-president Beresford Williams, are Black, six of them being Black African. CSA has 64 full-time employees, 52 of which are Black.

In terms of coaching, 92% of nationally accredited coaches in South Africa are Black and 67% of national umpires and match referees.

According to the CSA statement, they support 612 township-based cricket clubs, 1052 township primary school cricket clubs and 572 township high school cricket clubs. They added, however, that the facilities in these areas remain a huge area of concern for the organisation.

Meanwhile, Rassie van der Dussen showed why he is not just a superb batsman but also a top-class human being as he became the first White current Protea to publicly back the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I support BLM, I’m against all murders, physical, character and cultural murder. I support equal opportunities for all. Because I support BLM it does not mean that I support violence or Marxism, therefore I refuse to be labelled by people,” Van der Dussen said in a tweet.

“The Boards of Eastern Province Cricket and the Eastern Cape Cricket Warriors franchise call on Cricket South Africa to take to heart the racism issues raised by former national players and coaches – many of whom are from the Eastern Cape. It is not enough to merely condemn incidents of racism and to publicly support the Black Lives Matter movement. Something tangible must be done to put an end to racism at all levels of the sport – and particularly at professional level where the example needs to be set,” the Eastern Cape Cricket statement said.

Andrew Breetzke, the CEO of the South African Cricketers’ Association, told Sport24 on Thursday that a re-evaluation of both their and CSA’s role in systemic racism needs to take place.

“SACA has life skills programmes that deal directly with diversity in teams and we need to revisit that. We have systems in place that have dealt with issues where players feel they have been unfairly treated in the past, and that still stands, but we need to look at them again. We are, and have always been, there to take up issues for players. In any given season, there are a number of issues that are raised. The system does work. 

“What has come to the fore in the last two weeks, though, is the unconscious biases that exist and that requires some work from everybody. We’re pleased that players are speaking up about things that have impacted their careers in the past. We have to welcome that. We have to have those discussions. That’s how we look at this and it’s incumbent on all stakeholders to look within,” Breetzke said.

A statement from the Proteas team regarding the Black Lives Matter movement was expected on Thursday but had still not been made at the time of going to press.

Racial tensions have been laid bare in South African cricket over the last 48 hours with 31 former Black players and five current Black coaches sending a letter to Cricket South Africa urging them to support the Black Lives Matter movement and confront racial divides in the game, while the president of the players’ association, Omphile Ramela, sent a letter to the sports minister asking him to throw the lawbook at the organisation for their lack of transformation.

Cricket South Africa, through their acting CEO Jacques Faul, have already issued a statement saying they stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Former franchise players have provided a window into their experiences of racial discrimination as well, with their overwhelming narrative being that systemic racism upholds and perpetuates all the past wrongs.

The Titans, perhaps because they have been the most successful franchise, but more probably because Faul and Proteas coach Mark Boucher come from there, have attracted the most attention. Ethy Mbhalati, the leading wicket-taker in Titans history whose career ended in 2015 due to his involvement with matchfixing, said “there is institutionalised racism at Northerns” and “unfortunately when you questioned things, the system kicked you out and we were scared to lose our jobs”.

But Tebogo Siko, the current president of the Northerns Cricket Union and Titans cricket, has been involved in the administration of the franchise for many years.

“I can tell you that the Northerns Board is 70% Black and if the structures were blocking change then I don’t think that would have happened. Of course we are never in a position to say the status quo must stay the same, but the Titans seem to be being attacked left, right and centre based on our achievements. Which include having a Black coach [Mandla Mashimbyi] and assistant coach [Geoff Toyana],” Siko told The Citizen on Wednesday afternoon.

Siko also issued a statement on Wednesday responding directly to Mbhalati’s claims: “We’ve recently come to learn of the experiences of racial discrimination, cultural bias and remuneration bias Mr Mbhalati was faced with. There was never a formal complaint laid by Mr Mbhalati and this makes it difficult for us to deal with such a matter. We can also go on record and say Mr Mbhalati was among the top earners at the franchise towards the end of his career.

“The history of South Africa is a very dark one and we are well aware that remnants of our past live on 26 years later. It is clear that in our society people still battle with the difficulties from pre-1994 and some of these difficulties are experienced even within the game we love. As citizens of South Africa, we understand what we have been through and as a union and franchise we acknowledge that past and where we are currently. With this having been said, it is important that we make it clear that we do not tolerate racism and discrimination of any sort at franchise level, provincial, or anywhere within our pipeline.

“We have never had any complaints of racism in the past or in the present. Players and staff are aware of the processes they need to go through to lay a complaint. Our board has a Transformation and Ethics Committee, which is responsible for dealing with such matters should they arise,” Siko said.

Typical of the nation-building, reconciling force for unity he has always been, former Proteas batting star Hashim Amla made a rare foray on to social media in order to back Lungi Ngidi’s call to support BLM and also state that he stands with all those who are oppressed.

“The Black Lives Matter campaign has relevance for everyone. The person who believes the imagined superiority of Whites over Blacks or Blacks over Whites, or one nationality over another, is simply delusional. Many of us, including myself, have borne the brunt of these delusions and have crazy stories to tell, which is why it makes it even more admirable to see exceptional youngsters like Lungi Ngidi doing his bit to represent us all.

“The end product of being racist is only self-destruction.There are oppressed people here in this country and the world over, of all colours and walks of life, cricket included. However the darker-skinned people have had the worst of it. I stand with all those who are oppressed. And I stand with Lungi Ngidi,” Amla said.

Cricket South Africa’s announcement this week that they had chosen a high performance squad of 45 players to resume training in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic gave an interesting insight into the players that the current Proteas management believe are going to take the national cricket team forward into a new era.

While the likes of Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen, Imran Tahir, David Miller and Dwaine Pretorius were all included because they still have important roles to play for the Proteas in the near future, it is also irresistible to not cast our minds forwards to five years’ time and consider what the South African team would look like then.

There is no doubt head coach Mark Boucher and director of cricket Graeme Smith, in the middle of a rebuilding process following the retirement of greats such as Dale Steyn, AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and JP Duminy, are also thinking ahead to a time when another half-dozen players call quits on their careers. Their goal will be to ensure the next overhaul of the national team is not as painful as the one we are currently going through.

Let’s hope that in five years’ time, a 30-year-old Kagiso Rabada and a 29-year-old Lungi Ngidi are able to share the new ball and have developed into a partnership to rival the great South African fast bowling duos of Neil Adcock and Peter Heine, Peter Pollock and Mike Procter, Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock, Pollock and Makhaya Ntini, and Steyn and Morkel.

Rabada, if he continues in the same vein that has seen him take 197 wickets in just 43 Tests since 2015, should be challenging Steyn’s record of 439 Test wickets and should be established as one of the greats of the game. His current bowling average is just 22.95 and only Curtly Ambrose, Richard Hadlee, Glenn McGrath and Muttiah Muralitharan have taken 400 wickets at a lower average. Amazingly, Steyn has finished his Test career with the exact same average of 22.95.

Let’s also hope that Rabada fulfils his potential with the bat and can slot in at number eight in the batting order, contributing valuable runs.

With Anrich Nortje and Lutho Sipamla as back-up quicks, the Proteas could field a ferocious pace attack. The best South African teams have always hit their opposition with an unrelenting pace barrage.

Current first-choice spinner Keshav Maharaj will be 35 in five years’ time, which is certainly not too old for a slow bowler to be playing Test cricket. But I fancy George Linde, a tall left-arm spinner who has already had a taste of Test cricket, taking four wickets in India in the only innings he bowled in, may well have forced his way into a regular starting place by then, not least of all due to his prowess with the bat, which has already seen him score three first-class centuries.

In terms of the batting order, much depends on whether Quinton de Kock is still as keen on playing with the gloves as he is now. If he is no longer the wicketkeeper, playing as a specialist batsman, then there is an excellent replacement behind the stumps in Kyle Verreynne, with the likes of Heinrich Klaasen, Wandile Makwetu and Sinethemba Qeshile waiting in the wings.

One hopes that top-class talents like Aiden Markram, Zubayr Hamza and Temba Bavuma have by then built a formidable reputation in Test cricket, a trio of batsmen all averaging over 40 and allowing De Kock to do what he does best, taking a long handle to opposition attacks.

As a great fan of Markram, having followed his career closely since those glorious U19 days, I would also hope that by then he has become established enough to be the national captain. He has the most natural leadership qualities, is respected by friend and foe alike, and that would allow the likes of De Kock and Bavuma to play with the freedom that makes them most dangerous.

In terms of Markram’s opening partner, the tremendously determined Elgar’s Test career might not yet be over but he will be 38. Chances are that he would have moved on, likewise a 36-year-old Van der Dussen. Current Warriors opener Ed Moore should be at his peak at 32 years old and I have chosen him over Janneman Malan simply based on a technique that is probably better suited to Test cricket.

Malan should be a key figure though in South Africa’s white-ball sides, along with current stars like Tabraiz Shamsi and Andile Phehlukwayo.

Raynard van Tonder, who topped last season’s run-scoring chart with 843 at 70.25 for the Knights, is currently at the front of the queue of uncapped young batsmen looking to be Proteas regulars by 2025, but over the course of five years, new talents will certainly emerge, so who knows?

Somewhere out there right now there could be a 15-year-old who is the next AB de Villiers, Steyn, Jacques Kallis or Paul Adams. Although overlooked for my potential starting XI, there are also players in this week’s 45-man training squad like Wiaan Mulder, Gerald Coetzee, Bjorn Fortuin and Senuran Muthusamy who could also develop into world-class Proteas.

Much like the country as a whole after the pillaging of the State Capturers, the future of South African cricket is finely balanced at the moment with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic just placing more strain on a sport that was already under enormous financial pressure and stumbling blindly under the leadership of self-serving, pernicious administrators.

Cricket Capture is real and the malfeasants who have only been interested in their own power and enrichment are still very much alive and kicking in the halls of administration. They have no intention of losing their seat at the table that allows them to sate their voracious appetites.

It is unsurprising then, given the total lack of integrity they have previously shown, that they would resort to dirty tricks and shadowy tactics to discredit those who genuinely have the good of the game at heart. In the minds of these blights on the game, cricket is there to serve them, not the other way round.

The fraudulent document circulated this week claiming national coach Mark Boucher is a shareholder in 3TCricket is typical of a dirty tricks campaign and proves the existence of these nefarious forces. Acting CEO Jacques Faul is also coming under severe pressure and director of cricket Graeme Smith is for some reason being tarnished as “anti-transformation”. Lest we forget, as captain he probably made the biggest contribution ever to transforming the national team by coming up with the ProteaFire mantra that enabled the team to embrace diversity and develop a strong, unified culture.

It is absolutely laughable that Faul, Smith and Boucher are being accused of somehow pulling off a “coup” and putting Cricket South Africa back under White control. Faul was appointed – for the second time – by a majority Black board led by president Chris Nenzani; Smith was originally headhunted for his position by former CEO Thabang Moroe; and Boucher, who won five domestic trophies in three seasons, certainly has the support of the Black players in the national squad, many of whom have spoken about how helpful it has been to have coaches with huge international experience guiding the Proteas at this delicate stage of rebuilding.

It is clear though that the Cricket Capturers are planning another coup themselves. By getting rid of Faul, who has now been placed on a month-to-month contract, they would likely get rid of Smith as well. South Africa’s greatest captain only took up the position of Director of Cricket after Faul was appointed, having previously declined to work under Moroe.

The CSA Board, who hold ultimate power, is full of Cricket Capturers and those who have aided and abetted them, and they are working hard to maintain their grip on the game.

Apart from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and their ever-shrinking resources in terms of both finances and players, truly transforming the game into one that reaches all communities and provides equal opportunities for all talent is a seemingly never-ending challenge for CSA.

In the last week sports minister Nathi Mthethwa has castigated Nenzani for the all-White look to the senior management of the Proteas and Central Gauteng Lions and former Proteas spinner Aaron Phangiso has spoken out about the lack of transformation that has dogged his own career.

Phangiso of course went to the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and did not play a single game, one of the most disgusting examples of selectorial window-dressing in Proteas history. And that was under the watch of Nenzani, Haroon Lorgat as CEO and Russell Domingo as coach; none of them being White. Of course when it came to the semi-finals then the politicians saw fit to get involved and the infamous dropping of the in-form Kyle Abbott happened.

Mthethwa’s criticism of Nenzani happened at the Parliamentary Sports Portfolio Committee meeting with CSA top brass a week ago, and it was interesting in my research to come across CSA’s presentation to the same body back in 2015.

The World Cup semi-final storm was described as “one mischievous CWC selection issue” and a list of five Black African cricketers who were being assisted in a High Performance Squad was provided. Temba Bavuma is the only one of those five to have played regularly for the Proteas; Eddie Leie (2), Mangaliso Mosehle (7), Mthokozisi Shezi (1) and Khaya Zondo (5) have pulled on the Green and Gold just 15 times between them. They have all seen their franchise careers take a dip in the last five years as well.

Nenzani has been president of CSA since 2013 and I would love to know what transformation successes he can claim to have delivered in the longest ever tenure as president? Transformation has been under Black control for the last decade so why are Faul, Smith and Boucher suddenly being blamed for the lack of progress on that front?

The treatment Omphile Ramela had to endure from Moroe and the CSA Board as president of the players’ union and the complaints I hear from Black African staff that they were underpaid before Faul returned as CEO make me wonder just who exactly is anti-transformation?