for quality writing

Ken Borland



SA rugby’s archaic structure marring the game 0

Posted on September 09, 2012 by Ken

Suspended Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola may or may not have committed a crime when he marred that sport’s reputation so badly, but in a way the whole bonus scandal did the game a favour; it has ensured a revamp of its administrative structure, belatedly dragging it into the professional era.

Cricket South Africa have announced they intend to restructure their board to comprise five independent directors and five drawn from their Members Forum (the 11 provinces), which had me thinking the pressure is now firmly on the South African Rugby Union to do the same.

The whole shameful handling of the Southern Kings vs. Lions Super Rugby situation is a direct consequence of the archaic structure of South African rugby. The General Council, comprising representatives of the 14 provinces (CSA don’t include Northern Free State, Mpumalanga and South-Western districts), watches over the game in this country and they had the final say when it came to next year’s participation in the Sanzar tournament.

But many of these 14 gentlemen are tin-pot dictators and, almost without exception, they all concentrate on the individual interests of their province rather than the broader good of South African rugby. And then there is the anomaly that the smaller unions (those in the Currie Cup First Division) have the same power as Western Province or the Sharks and consequently have been known to sell their loyalty/vote to the highest bidder.

Lions President Kevin de Klerk inherited a union that was in an absolute mess and on the verge of bankruptcy. De Klerk, the former Springbok lock, is a thoroughly decent man but his battle to keep the Lions in Super Rugby was doomed to fail because he based it on good old amateur rugby principles of “fair play”, “what’s good for the game” and a handshake being a firm agreement.

His problem was that the other unions – even those that had pledged their support – were only ever going to look after themselves. De Klerk had hinted at the five Super Rugby unions banding together to save the Lions, but in the end the Gautengers have been banished.

They’re singing a sad old song at Ellis Park these days, but their own naivety and desperately poor results have been partly to blame. They now find themselves in the mud at the bottom of the pond but, just like the Natal Rugby Union did in the 1980s when they were relegated to the Currie Cup B Section. The Lions have to find a way to rise like a Lotus flower and restore their reputation as one of the finest teams in the country.

And what of the Kings’ chances in Super Rugby?

Cheeky Watson, the president of the Eastern Province Rugby Union (Epru), admits that there is still plenty to do.

“The important thing for us is to deliver a professional team that attracts attention, which we have succeeded in doing, and now it’s time to build the foundational structures: our academy, a working relationship with the (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan) university, and to put structures in place at the bottom.

“With 120 clubs spread all across the region and wonderful schools, this is a sustainable franchise. A lot of building still has to be done, but that cannot negate the fact that the foundation is unbelievably strong. It’s just to get the two to meet: the professional team and the foundational structures,” Watson told SA Sports Illustrated.

Much has been made of the Southern Kings’ transformation credentials, that they will provide a lot of black rugby players to the national cause.

But scratching beneath the surface, transformation does not seem to have been a roaring success in the Eastern Cape either.

Ithembelihle High School in New Brighton Township is probably the most successful black schoolboy rugby team in the country. But despite beating the likes of Framesby, Newton, Despatch, Muir College and Daniel Pienaar Technical High, and proving themselves to be competitive in the Grey High Easter Festival, Ithembelihle complain that Port Elizabeth’s white schools no longer want to play against them and that they have received precious little support from the Epru.

One look at their facilities seems to prove the point. Sports Illustrated reported they did not have a scrum machine and that their field resembled “a stony sandpit in summer, a lake in winter and a subtropical grassland in between”.

And why is this river of black talent not flowing into their provincial teams?

Last weekend, the EP Kings fielded just three Black Africans – Mpho Mbiyozo, Jongi Nokwe and Siyanda Grey – in their 22-man squad for the match against the Valke.

The Border Bulldogs were marginally better with four, while the combined figures for the two teams at U19 (8/44) and U21 (10/44) level suggest the Kings need to concentrate on transformation as much as anyone else.

Of course, the big five unions have relied on Eastern Cape talent, especially to boost their player-of-colour numbers, for many years. But they clearly figured out that if they turned their back on the Lions, another source of players, with more top-level experience, would suddenly become available.

Flyhalf Elton Jantjies has been on a mini-tour of the country in recent days to check out where he should sign on the dotted line and the likes of Pat Cilliers, Franco van der Merwe, Jaco Taute, JC Janse van Rensburg and Derick Minnie will surely soon be on their way too.

And, in a competition where the local derbies have been notoriously tough, who is more likely to beat the Bulls – the Lions or the Southern Kings?

I know who my money would be on.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2012-09-07-sa-rugbys-time-to-enter-21st-century

Blue Label to bring outstanding passion to T20 0

Posted on September 07, 2012 by Ken

By their own admission, Cricket South Africa’s newest sponsors, Blue Label Telecoms, “have not really been out there” in the world of sport, which is surprising given that they are clearly passionate about it and have one of the most amazing collections of memorabilia you could hope to see.

The Blue Label head office in Sandton boasts a spectacular collection of cricket, motor racing, rugby, boxing, golf, tennis and cycling memorabilia that is a prominent feature of their first two floors.

CSA announced Blue Label as the new national team sponsors for T20 cricket from Saturday’s opening match against England through to the end of the Pakistan series in March in Sandton on Thursday.

“It’s a big step for Blue Label because we haven’t really been out there that much, although we’ve been behind South African sport for a long time,” CEO and co-founder Brett Levy said. “We have no doubt that we will complement the South African cricket brand.”

While the initial sponsorship is just a short-term deal, there is no doubt there is an outstanding fit between Blue Label – the leading provider of prepaid tokens and transactions in cellular communications, electricity, water and bus tickets, in developing economies such as South Africa, India, Mexcio and Nigeria – and twenty20 cricket and a longer term involvement in the sport is likely to be announced soon.

“The deal is short-term for now, but Blue Label have the first right of renewal and I’m sure the relationship will last longer than just until the end of the Pakistan series. If it’s a good fit, maybe they can take the whole space and move into domestic T20 as well,” CSA acting chief executive Jacques Faul said.

Blue Label themselves are in no doubt that they have much more to offer South African cricket.

“We view this as a long-term partnership, not a sponsorship, for many years to come. It’s easy just to give money, but it’s difficult to build a business together. But we are a company that’s about relationships, we touch about 21 million people’s lives every month, and we share a passion for people with Cricket South Africa. They say you are known by the company you keep and we are absolutely delighted to be with CSA,” Blue Label chief technical officer David Fraser said.

“In the next six months, we want to put together a long-term relationship once we make sure it works for both parties. It’s endless what we can do together and I can see this running indefinitely into the future,” Levy added.

Blue Label are big in India through their subsidiary company Oxigen and, with the South African cricket team also being very popular in the world’s second most populous country, the partnership could bloom explosive success.

With their larney near-field communications solutions technology, Blue Label are also hoping to “create a unique customer engagement model” with CSA’s “wonderful fan base”, according to Fraser.

Unfortunately for them, the ICC World T20 is not part of the deal because the game’s governing body disallowed their involvement due to a supposed clash with cellphone giants Reliance Mobile, who Blue Label supply airtime services to in India. But the proudly South African company should soon start getting substantial exposure in the global village with their logo prominently displayed on the Proteas’ T20 shirts in all other matches.

Faul agreed that the deal was yet another vote of confidence in CSA and their steps in the right direction after the Gerald Majola bonus scandal.

“It’s a very positive sign that corporate South Africa are looking more favourably at us. We want to move on and it’s great to have fantastic brands behind us that are so big in Africa and worldwide,” Faul said.

“The past is behind us and we’re starting fresh. This is a big endorsement of Cricket South Africa,” Levy agreed.

The deal is believed to be worth in the region of 12-15 million rand, although this value could double in coming years as Blue Label assist CSA in engaging more profitably with their fans.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/sa-team/news/120906/New_sponsor_for_Proteas_T20_squad

Massive increase in Test sponsorship for CSA 0

Posted on August 01, 2012 by Ken

The Willowton Group, through their Sunfoil brand, announced a massive increase in their sponsorship of cricket on Monday via a four-year deal that covers all first-class long format games, including home Tests.

Sunfoil became a sponsor during troubled times for Cricket South Africa last year, stepping in to back the Test series and ODIs last season when not many other corporates were interested. But with CSA’s reputation almost back to its best, the sunflower cooking oil brand has increased its sponsorship to R14 million a year, seven times as much as the previous deal.

“A lot of people thought that we were a one-season wonder and that was part of our motivation to continue our sponsorship. We wanted to show that we were not just catching things on the cheap, we’re in cricket for the long haul and it’s all about giving back for us,” Shoaib Moosa, the sales and marketing director of the Willowton Group, told supersport.com at the sponsorship announcement at the Wanderers on Monday.

Sunfoil will also play a major role in domestic cricket, and will sponsor both the four-day franchise competition and the three-day amateur tournament.

SuperSport have been the sponsors of the four-day tournament for 16 years, the SuperSport Series replacing the old Castle Cup in the 1996/97 season, and CSA acting chief executive Jacques Faul praised the broadcasters for not standing in the way of their wish to bundle all long-format cricket together.

“We have to thank SuperSport for allowing us to take this sponsorship to Sunfoil because we wanted to group all the long-format cricket together. SuperSport have been a wonderful supporter of South African cricket and they will continue to be our broadcasting partner,” Faul said.

Brandon Foot, SuperSport’s head of acquisitions and legal said: “SuperSport is very proud to have sponsored the SuperSport Series and to have contributed to this important nursery of test match cricket. As the World of Champions steps aside from this role, SuperSport remains committed to CSA as its production and broadcast partner in all formats of the game, both domestically and internationally. SuperSport will also retain its interests in franchise and other cricket in South Africa.”

The Willowton Group also have a rich history of involvement in development cricket with their highly successful township programme in KZN being extended to Gauteng last year, while their cash for boundaries incentive in the 2011/12 tests raised R700 000 for their bursary fund, which now supports over a dozen children.

“The fruits of our involvement in cricket are seen where it matters most – at grassroots level – and hopefully we can produce some top-class cricketers from our development programme. But I will be happy even if we produce one doctor because of our bursaries and provision has been made for this programme to be expanded on a national level,” Moosa said.

The Pietermaritzburg-based businessman admitted that his company’s involvement with the senior national team had certainly benefited Sunfoil as well.

“Twelve months ago, if you asked the public, no particular brand of cooking oil would have come to mind. But now, the exposure and awareness and turnaround in volume of Sunfoil has been absolutely amazing and has assisted us in our goal of becoming the market-leader in South Africa,” Moosa said.

The success of that initial sponsorship deal means long-format cricket now has passionate backers from the Proteas down to the amateur teams, not forgetting Sunfoil’s key role at junior level as well.

Having secured yet another major vote of confidence in the way they have set about restoring the faith of corporates, Cricket South Africa are now looking for someone to take on another hugely valuable property in their twenty20 rights, both domestically and internationally, including for the Proteas team sponsor. The South African national team will provide a wonderful shop window in the ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka in September, with the normal rules being relaxed to allow sponsors’ names on their shirts.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/domestic-cricket/news/120730/Massive_increase_in_test_sponsorship_for_CSA

Parnell unlikely to be in any trouble 0

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Ken

Wayne Parnell is unlikely to be in any trouble with Cricket South Africa over allegations he took recreational drugs in India, CSA acting chief executive Jacques Faul told supersport.com on Monday.

Parnell, who was in India playing for the Pune Warriors in the Indian Premier League, was arrested in Mumbai in May during a police raid on a rave party. He and Indian spinner Rahul Sharma were, along with nearly 90 other people, given drug tests and, on July 20, television stations in India reported police had confirmed positive tests for the duo.

But Faul said CSA’s efforts to get official confirmation of these reports had so far been in vain.

“We’ve been trying to get official word from the BCCI and Indian police, but so far we’ve got nothing. The Indian police haven’t yet laid a charge against Wayne,” Faul said.

Faul added that for CSA to take action against the international they would need far greater evidence than what has currently been made available to them.

“To take action against Wayne will be next to impossible at the moment because the whole process over there has been shambolic. The police are talking to some sections of the media but not to the cricket boards, the whole testing procedure was not done according to the standards that normally apply in sport and Wayne would be able to contest any action we take with absolute ease,” Faul said.

Parnell, who has always claimed his innocence and said he was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”, has allegedly tested positive for marijuana and will more than likely base his defence on the passive smoking principle i.e. other people at the party were smoking marijuana and he breathed some in just by being in the same room.

Parnell celebrates his 23rd birthday on Monday and the news that CSA are unlikely to take any action against him will be a great present ahead of a crucial summer for the left-arm paceman.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/sa-team/news/120730/Parnell_unlikely_to_be_in_any_trouble

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Thought of the Day

    Philippians 2:13 – “For it is God who works in you to will [to make you want to] and to act according to his good purpose.”

    When you realise that God is at work within you, and are determined to obey him in all things, God becomes your partner in the art of living. Incredible things start to happen in your life. Obstacles either vanish, or you approach them with strength and wisdom from God. New prospects open in your life, extending your vision. You are filled with inspiration that unfolds more clearly as you move forward, holding God’s hand.” – Solly Ozrovech, A Shelter From The Storm

    But not living your life according to God’s will leads to frustration as you go down blind alleys in your own strength, more conscious of your failures than your victories. You will have to force every door open and few things seem to work out well for you.

     

     



↑ Top