Ken Borland

Cricket in South Africa was facing an apocalyptic scenario which the acceptance of an independent majority board has now averted, Dr Stavros Nicolaou, the chairman of the Interim Board, said on Friday.

The details of that new board, to be elected at the AGM to be held no later than June 12, were revealed by Nicolaou at a joint briefing with the Minister of Sport and the Members Council at Cricket South Africa’s offices on Friday.

The new board will comprise 15 directors for the next three years, after which it will be reduced to 13 directors. The 15-strong board will be made up of eight independent directors, five non-independent and the two CSA executives – the CEO and the chief financial officer.

The eight independent directors will be nominated by a six-strong panel comprising representatives from the Institute of Directors, SAICA, the Legal Practices Council, a Members Council nominee, a SACA nominee with previous international cricket experience, and the former CSA presidents have also appointed a representative. Applications for independent directors will begin afresh and close on May 10.

“Cricket was at the edge of the cliff, we were millimetres away, not even centimetres. And it was a very steep cliff and not an easy climb back up, almost an apocalyptic scenario. Sponsors and staff were getting nervous, the country at large too. Cricket needs certainty and predictability, that’s what the players want too. The new MoI is a world-class document and a source of great pride.

“An independent majority board is standard practice, Governance 101, and the chairperson must be independent as well, with all 15 directors voting for one of the eight independent directors. The MoI also makes clear the different roles and responsibilities of the Board and the Members Council because there has been a lot of criticism over cricket having two centres of power,” Nicolaou said.

While Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa tried to portray his relationship with the Members Council as being vaguely affectionate, he made clear how strongly he disapproved of their leadership of the game, while also firing another warning shot at Sascoc for them not to get involved again.

“This six-month process was all about staying with the status quo or transforming, and we made it clear we wanted transformation, nothing else. It was a matter of life and death for cricket and those who think they can stand against this process must think again. We need to create a space in which sponsors can be comfortable so they can support sport.

“There is no way this process is going back and it sets a good precedent, not a bad one. Government is reluctant to get into the fray, we try to stay at arm’s length from our sporting codes and we believed CSA itself should be able to resolve their issues. But they made it worse and cricket was going down the drain. Sport being run by sport people, what has it brought?” Mthethwa said.

“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.