Ken Borland

Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat was yesterday not only able to deliver the good news that he has been exonerated of all wrongdoing surrounding his alleged involvement in the media statement criticising ICC governance by their former legal advisor David Becker, but also news of on-going negotiations with Australia and England for more Test cricket against those countries.

The International Cricket Council yesterday announced that they could find no evidence linking Lorgat to Becker’s damning statement and also cleared him of allegedly trying to bribe or threaten journalists in an attempt to withdraw the story.

“Being exonerated is no surprise to me because I knew exactly what I had done and what I had not done, and I knew that I would not fail myself nor cricket in South Africa,” Lorgat said at the Wanderers yesterday.

“But I am gravely disappointed that I was found guilty in the media and a lot of things were said about me even before the investigation began.”

Not much seems capable of taking the former ICC chief executive by surprise and Lorgat also brushed off the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s decision to not stage any of the IPL in South Africa while revealing the prospect of increased Tests against Australia and England.

“We weren’t surprised at all by the BCCI announcement, they want to play the tournament close to home. We were involved in discussions all along and we were informed of the decision before it went public. It made sense to have the first 16 games in the UAE, if they needed longer outside India then maybe we would have featured,” Lorgat said.

“But we never had any plans for the IPL in the financial forecasts. It would have been a windfall, but it’s something we hadn’t bargained for.”

With Lorgat and CSA having a well-publicised falling out with the BCCI last year and India, Australia and England staging a virtual coup to take control of the ICC, the fears that South African cricket would be sidelined don’t seem to be materialising.

Lorgat revealed the success of preliminary negotiations with other boards that would see more Test cricket being played in South Africa.

“We are very keen to play four-Test series against Australia and we’ve gone some way to agreeing to that, although it’s dependent on the calendar. And we are talking to England and have agreed in principle to play a five-Test series in 2015/16. So we’ve already achieved a lot working together since the original ICC proposal, which has already been changed considerably,” Lorgat said.

Chief executive Haroon Lorgat said on Thursday that hosting some of the 2014 Indian Premier League (IPL) would have been a “windfall” for Cricket South Africa, but the organisation had not catered for the tournament in their financial forecasts.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Wednesday that this year’s IPL would begin in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on April 16, before moving to India from May 1, with Bangladesh on standby should the elections in India not allow them to host it until later that month.

The announcement put to an end speculation that South Africa would host some of the tournament, having successfully staged the entire 2009 event.

“We weren’t surprised at all by the BCCI announcement, they want to play the tournament close to home. We were involved in discussions all along and we were informed of the decision before it went public. It made sense to have the first 16 games in the UAE, if they needed longer outside India then maybe we would have featured,” Lorgat said on Thursday.

“But we never had any plans for the IPL in our forecasts. It would have been a windfall, but it’s something we hadn’t bargained for. If it had come here, we would have embraced it, but equally we can deal with it not coming here. It’s their tournament and we respect their choice.”

With Lorgat and CSA having a well-publicised falling out with the BCCI last year and India, Australia and England staging a virtual coup to take control of the International Cricket Council (ICC), there have been fears that South African cricket would be sidelined.

But Lorgat revealed there has been a rush of activity in negotiations with other boards that would see more Test cricket being played here.

“We are very keen to play four-Test series against Australia and we’ve gone some way to agreeing to that, although it’s dependent on the calendar. If we can fit it in, then we will do that.

“And we are talking to England and have agreed in principle to play a five-Test series in 2015/16. So we’ve already achieved a lot working together since the original ICC proposal, which has already been changed considerably,” Lorgat said.

The CEO also denied reports from India that CSA had refused to stage only part of the IPL, wanting the whole tournament or nothing.

“To say we made demands like that is totally untrue and the amounts of money that we were reported to have wanted have also been exaggerated,” Lorgat said.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive Haroon Lorgat said on Thursday that he objected to sections of the media finding him guilty without trial after the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that they had exonerated him of any wrongdoing surrounding the media statement criticising ICC governance made last October by their former legal advisor David Becker.

An independent adjudicator commissioned by the ICC cleared Lorgat of knowing about the Becker media statement and its contents prior to its initial distribution; of being

involved in the preparation of the statement; or of attempting to persuade a number of different journalists to delay or withdraw the Becker story by offering to do something for them in return, allegedly bribing and eventually threatening the journalists.

“Being exonerated is no surprise to me because I knew exactly what I had done and what I had not done, and I knew that I would not fail myself nor cricket in South Africa,” Lorgat told a news conference at the Wanderers on Thursday.

“But I am gravely disappointed that I was found guilty in the media and I seriously expect an apology and then we can move on. A lot of things were said about me even before the investigation began.

“It’s an opportunity for the media to reflect on how fairly and accurately they have done their job. I call on the media to report fairly on Cricket South Africa, some people just use a sledgehammer and it brings their own organisations into disrepute. The media ought to be accountable for what they write, just like I am accountable for what I do,” Lorgat continued.

While Lorgat did not want to ascribe the investigation to the machinations surrounding the so-called takeover of the ICC by the ‘Big Three’, he confirmed that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had been one of the parties that offered to drop the charges during the debate over the changes in the structure of world cricket’s governing body.

“The CSA president, Chris Nenzani, was involved in those talks and he has confirmed that offers to drop the investigation were made at the time of the ICC revamp discussions. We made it very clear though that there would be no deals, but it showed that the BCCI and many other board members had already moved on because they knew what the outcome of the investigation would be. Thankfully we continued with it, however, because now my name has been cleared,” Lorgat said.

Lorgat is now free to involve himself fully in all ICC business and dealings with the BCCI, but he said his suspension from these activities had not particularly affected CSA.

“I don’t believe that it affected South African cricket to a great extent. I was involved in many discussions on the sidelines and I missed just one chief executives’ meeting, but I was in Dubai at the time and was discussing all the issues outside the meeting,” Lorgat said.

Nenzani said in the CSA statement released earlier on Thursday that the board had maintained the utmost confidence in Lorgat throughout the investigation.

“As we expected, all the allegations have been dismissed and the board would like to reiterate its full trust and confidence in Mr. Lorgat as its chief executive. To date the board has been satisfied and indeed impressed with the progress made under his leadership.

“It is also clear that allegations and insinuations made against Mr. Lorgat by certain journalists were unprofessional and do not fall within the bounds of fair or justifiable comment. I hope these individuals or their organisations will now have the courage to issue an apology to both Mr. Lorgat and CSA,” Nenzani said.

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