Ken Borland

Cricket South Africa are fighting lots of legal battles at the moment, but possibly the most damaging to their reputation has just been made public as former England captain Karen Smithies has served the embattled organisation legal papers alleging discrimination during last year’s interview process for the position of Proteas Women’s team manager.

Smithies, who led England to the World Cup title in 1993, has been a highly-respected administrator and manager of the Titans team for the last 20 years and played a key role in the growth of the women’s game in this country in the early 2000s.

But Smithies has now made the shock claim that CSA rejected her application to be Proteas Women’s manager due to her being “bisexual or lesbian”, according to the organisation’s disgraced former head of HR, Chantal Moon. And Smithies has the recordings to prove it.

For an organisation that is trumpeting diversity as a core value and riding the wave of the tremendous recent success of the national women’s team, the revelations are deeply embarrassing and disturbing.

The online interview was held on June 9 last year via Teams before a panel comprising Moon, who has subsequently been dismissed as she was not properly qualified for her job, director of cricket Graeme Smith, head of player pathways Eddie Khoza and high performance manager Vincent Barnes.

Smith left the meeting after the interview, but the other three then discussed Smithies without realising that their conversation was still being recorded.

The legal papers allege that Moon pointed out that Smithies is “bisexual or lesbian”, to which Khoza responded that she “is in a life partnership with a previous South African women’s captain”. Moon then said there was a risk that Smithies would get “involved in some darling-darling relationship with one of the players”.

Barnes pointed out that it would not be right to appoint a “White Pommie instead of a Black African Male [current manager Sedibu Mohlaba].

The comments are an obvious case of discrimination against Smithies personally because national women’s captain Dane van Niekerk is married to team-mate Marizanne Kapp and there are other relationships within the squad. Coach Hilton Moreeng is a man but nobody has ever raised any concerns about him having a relationship with one of the players.

Smithies told The Citizen on Saturday that the initial hurt of the comments has been exacerbated by CSA’s steadfast refusal to respond to any of her complaints, forcing her to go the legal route.

“I felt so hurt and very disappointed that my career and achievements all came down to that one thing [her sexuality]. These are people I know well and I just wanted an apology and an acknowledgement that what happened was wrong. I’ve tried everything possible to avoid going to court, sent so many letters, but CSA have not had the decency to reply to one of them,” Smithies said.

Faf du Plessis has seen the Proteas crumple in more World Cups than is probably fair for one player to have to go through and yet the veteran former captain is still excited about the prospect of playing in two T20 World Cups in the next 20 months and even maybe the next 50-over tournament, scheduled for 2023.

It was revealed on Tuesday that Du Plessis will no longer be one of the 16 contracted Proteas for the coming year, but he told The Citizen on Wednesday that this was expected because he is only available for T20 cricket this year.

“I’m only available for T20 cricket this year as I mentioned in my Test retirement statement. I haven’t heard any communication from CSA regarding contracts, but I know they are looking into getting us involved in T20 cricket because there are two World Cups in that format in the next two years. Two T20 World Cups in a row is going to be fire [emoji],” Du Plessis said in a WhatsApp.

India will host the next T20 World Cup in October/November this year, while Australia, who were due to hold the event last year before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, will stage the tournament at the same time in 2022.

“There isn’t much ODI cricket this season and the ODI World Cup is only in 2023. Next season might be different in terms of games and also then the 2023 World Cup preparation, but for now with it being so far away, it’s better to build with players that can gain plenty games under their belts,” the 36-year-old added.

Du Plessis averages 57.87 in his 23 50-over World Cup appearances at the 2011, 2015 and 2019 tournaments, while he also played in the 2013 and 2017 Champions Trophy events. He also played in three T20 World Cups, in 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Du Plessis, who has been a stalwart of the Indian Premier League with 84 appearances, has previously indicated he is eager to play in more global T20 leagues around the world. Following the Proteas tour of Pakistan, he played three matches for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League before that tournament’s suspension due to a spate of Covid-19 cases.

Whatever holiday time he has had since then will be drawing rapidly to a close as the next edition of the IPL is due to start on April 9.

The Bulls have obviously done plenty of work honing their bodies in the gym and on their skills, but for Victor Matfield, one of their great former players, it was their heart that stood out as they clinched the Currie Cup final with a thrilling comeback and an extra-time try.

Matfield was a driving force behind the last great era of Bulls rugby when they won three SuperRugby and five Currie Cup titles between 2002 and 2010, and he sees a similar sort of belief building in this current Bulls side.

“It was a great final and the Bulls had to adjust to a lot – coming off the field for lightning, having to play extra time … They showed a lot of character because they were deep in trouble. In normal time they managed to defend that lineout right at the end on their line and get the turnover, and then in extra time they really took control.

“But they have shown that character before – that victory over Western Province at Newlands with 14 men, and again in the semi-final when the momentum had gone completely the Lions’ way after they scored two tries. Again this weekend they kept calm and went back to what works for them, they started to maul the Sharks,” Matfield told The Citizen on Monday.

It seems likely that there will be several more tightly-contested clashes between the Bulls and Sharks in the near future as well, what with MVM Holdings now investing millions in the Durban franchise and the Bulls also having healthy financial resources as well as a wealth of young talent.

“They are the two best sides at the moment, the Sharks were at the top of the Super Rugby competition before the Covid break and the Bulls did really well all through Super Rugby Unlocked and the Currie Cup. And the Bulls have a lot of great youngsters, they are the U19 and U21 champions as well so there is a lot of talent coming through.

“But you can’t take away from the influence of experienced guys like Duane Vermeulen, Trevor Nyakane and Morne Steyn. We don’t know how much longer Morne and Duane are going to play for, so the Bulls will need to replace them. The guys in like the middle stages of their careers will need to step up and become Springboks. Hopefully a few of them who did well in the Currie Cup will get that opportunity soon,” Matfield said.

Omphile Ramela, the former president of the players’ union who was last month removed as a director of the Cricket South Africa Interim Board, has lodged an application in the High Court challenging his removal based on the alleged rude conduct of the board and an accusation that they have erred in terms of procedure.

The board resolved on December 15 to remove Ramela for being “derelict in performing his functions as a director” and engaging in “destructive practices”, related to his alleged refusal to accept majority decisions and subsequent leaks of board discussions to the media. Ramela was given the opportunity to put his case before the board, but failed to attend the meeting.

Ramela then announced on Tuesday evening on social media that he will challenge his dismissal in court.

“I have lodged an application against CSA with the High Court. While the application deals with my removal, the premise of this application speaks to the conduct of this board as far [sic] the principle of law and order is concerned. … Given that my concerns speak to the principle of its conduct in matters of law and procedure, the court is the best place that can ventilate this matter and see it to its logical conclusion.

“The directors of this board serve in leadership structures of society. If its conduct is questionable in law and procedure then we as a country and the game of cricket have a much bigger problem. My major concern is the game. I could have easily walked away from this, but I think I’ve got a responsibility as someone who’s been in the game to stand for the truth,” Ramela posted on Twitter.

Ramela went on to say that he will demonstrate at the High Court that the CSA interim board have not acted with the interests of the game at heart, especially in terms of transformation.

“The decisions I’m contesting speaks to the motive of this conduct. This board has not done anything to advance the game and enhance transformation on and off the field of play. Instead it has done the total opposite to a point of regressing any transformation gains and governance. This then begs the question, whose interest are they serving?

“Hopefully this court process will help pierce that veil and reveal the source of our problems in cricket. The game has served me as a player and it has created opportunities for me. So if there is a case I can make that the interests of the game are not being protected at the moment I will put that out there. I believe that this application to the High Court will demonstrate that,” Ramela said.

The interim board issued a statement on Wednesday saying Ramela’s application is without substance and they will oppose it in court.