Ken Borland

“It is in your power to save cricket,” is what Dr Stavros Nicolaou, the chairman of the Cricket South Africa Interim Board, told the Members Council on Thursday as he addressed a teleconference to update the media on the current state of the crisis in the game.

Nicolaou said his information is that Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa is currently gazetting action against CSA because of their failure to agree to a new board with a majority of independent directors and an independent chair. If their punishment is written into law it can only mean that it is serious, but the Interim Board head said there was still a last-ditch way to save the day, which he pleaded with the Members Council to take.

“I don’t want to speculate or speak on the Minister’s behalf on what those measures will look like, but I have been told they will be gazetted, so the game is in extremely dire circumstances. What can be done? Well the ball is firmly with the Members Council, if they can show the will and conviction to agree to fundamental principles of good governance.

“The Members Council can instantly remedy this situation if they pass a special resolution that they will get a 75% vote in favour of the Memorandum of Incorporation, which will trigger a Section 60 resolution, which if they all sign in 24 hours then the crisis is averted and they can save cricket. The alternative is too horrible to contemplate,” Nicolaou said on Thursday.

The Interim Board slammed the Members Council’s statement alleging the MoI was not negotiated in an inclusive fashion and was thrust upon them, with Nicolaou detailing a timeline from when the Interim Board was appointed on November 15 and their mandate accepted by the Members Council.

He said a working group comprising three members from  each body had been working on the MoI since January 31. The scheduling of a Special General Meeting on April 17 to vote on the new constitution had been set on March 11. Nicolaou said by April 15, every query of the Members Council had been answered and the final MoI was distributed.

“The Members Council statement has immense inaccuracies and a number of misrepresentations. We were exceedingly disappointed with what happened at the SGM, where many prior agreements unravelled. Calling for an indaba of sorts will not help because it is just another tactic to delay the process.

“The chronology shows there was extensive consultation and bringing in Sascoc, who themselves earlier withdrew from the process, has only clouded the issue. Now we require a special resolution because we can’t have another undertaking that the MoI is over the line and then we get to the SGM and it’s rejected. The Members Council keeping kicking this can down the road,” Nicolaou said.

The provincial presidents on the Members Council who are in favour of the proposed changes to the governance of Cricket South Africa seem to be taking responsibility for solving the impasse with the Interim Board and Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa as six of the unions have now issued statements supporting a majority independent board and an independent chairperson.

It may still be a case of too little, too late though as Mthethwa mulls what action to take under Section 13 (5) of the Sports Act against CSA for missing their deadline to approve a new constitution ahead of an AGM.

On Wednesday, the Northerns and Mpumalanga cricket unions issued statements supporting the stance of Central Gauteng, North-West, Easterns and Free State that there should be a majority independent board and independent chairperson.

The two Highveld unions also called for all stakeholders to take part in a national indaba, steered by an independent mediator, to resolve the impasse as quickly as possible.

But in his letter to the Members Council on Tuesday night telling them he would be taking action against them according to the provisions of the Sports Act, Mthethwa said “your proposal to convene a multi-party stakeholder conference to deal with a matter that you have been seized with for a number of months, does not make sense to me.”

Because Mthethwa has the authority to no longer recognise CSA, it would mean South Africa could go back to the days of isolation and not have an official national team.

As the sports minister told a radio station on Tuesday night, if things continue the way they are, the world will have to be told there is no cricket in South Africa.

Cricket South Africa owe a great deal of thanks to the Brexiteers of the United Kingdom as their efforts have led to the return of some top-class players just as the domestic game heads into a new-look, uncertain future.

Because Brexit engineered Britain’s exit from the European Union, all Kolpak deals fell away and South Africans playing county cricket in England could no longer do that unless it was on the basis of them being registered as overseas players. Which would then allow them to play in – and for – South Africa.

And so the likes of Simon Harmer (Northerns), Kyle Abbott (Boland), Stiaan van Zyl (Boland), Duanne Olivier (Gauteng), Wayne Parnell (WP) and Hardus Viljoen (Boland) are all returning to the domestic game. Coupled with Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander coming out of retirement to play for Western Province and Chris Morris signing a contract with Northerns, it means a raft of invaluable experience and quality is returning to provincial cricket, which can only be good.

Some of those players have only been able to secure a one-year contract though, because the teams were only allowed to give out eight two-year contracts out of their squad of 16.

In terms of these players’ availability for the Proteas, there is nothing technically stopping them from being called up. Although some of them, most notably fast bowler Olivier, left South Africa in awkward circumstances. As an organisation, Cricket South Africa had the right to feel snubbed in certain cases.

National coach Mark Boucher was asked recently specifically about Olivier’s chances of a Proteas recall and what he described would apply to all of the returning players.

“A lot of things need to happen. He needs to show form in our system, we can’t judge him on what he’s done in the past for South Africa or overseas. Then we need to ask whether he fits into our culture, will he show good attitude and are the other guys happy to have him. If he can tick all those boxes then we would welcome him back,” Boucher said.

Cricket South Africa sadly faces suspension by the Minister of Sport after Nathi Mthethwa rejected the Members Council’s plea for a seven-day extension to sort out their impasse with the Interim Board over the introduction of a majority independent board and independent chairperson.

Having given the Members Council until 5pm on Tuesday to show cause as to why he should not take action against them following their weekend failure to approve the Interim Board’s governance proposals, Mthethwa informed the provincial presidents on Tuesday night that he considered their response “to fall short of addressing the subject of showing cause why I should not apply the provisions of Section 13 (5) of the Sports Act based on your failure to implement a critical aspect of the mandate I gave the Interim Board”, according to a letter which The Citizen has seen.

The Sports Act allows for Mthethwa to withdraw government recognition of CSA, which would prevent them from participating in international cricket, thus surely leading to their suspension from the International Cricket Council and dooming the local game to amateur status.

There is clearly a massive gorge in opinion between what most observers believe are the minister’s powers and what the Members Council are banking on, because Mthethwa mentions “a lack of alignment with my interpretation of the powers provided to me by the Sports Act”.

Mthethwa points out that in his meeting with the Members Council and the Interim Board 10 days ago, there was agreement on the desirability of a majority independent board. He also mentions a letter the Members Council sent to the Interim Board saying the only remaining item for discussion was the definition of non-independent directors.

“Your proposal to convene a multi-party stakeholder conference to deal with a matter that you have been seized with for a number of months does not make sense to me. … I do not understand what would be achieved by a further seven-day extension when you were part of a conference that announced a roadmap that targeted April 17 as a completion date,” Mthethwa said.

The gorgeous irony is that several provinces are now rallying behind the lead of Gauteng and North-West, who called on the Members Council to approve the new constitution. But it is too little, too late.