Ken Borland

It was never going to be a dolly of a catch that Social Justice and Nation-Building ombudsman Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza found himself under, but given the evidence provided during the last week of hearings, his job over the next month in compiling his final report should be like taking a firmly-struck drive straight to you in the covers.

Given the legal pedigree of Ntsebeza, I would be surprised if he fumbled. Even though the way assistant Sandile July seems to have already made up his mind about who the villains of this piece are is a bit like your team-mate distracting you under a high catch by also trying to get under it.

As Ntsebeza has often reminded, his brief is to find whether there has been racial and gender discrimination in South African cricket.

For those of us who have been involved in the game since unity, the evidence has clearly backed up what we knew all along. There was most certainly racial discrimination and lingering Apartheid attitudes that caused some fine cricketers and people to be dreadfully treated.

But since around 2010, the issue becomes cloudier. The national team became more representative and more aware of diversity and cultural differences. Cricket South Africa’s Board became majority Black.

The last week has seen Ntsebeza admit that the evidence provided by those found guilty of attempting to corrupt the game – Alviro Petersen, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Ethy Mbhalati and Thami Tsolekile – that they had been discriminated against on the basis of their colour, was “a red herring”.

Ntsebeza expressed his regret that so much time had been spent on the issue, likening it to “a runaway horse” that was eventually corralled by the testimony of those who led the matchfixing investigation in 2015/16.

So their evidence – save for some of the harrowing tales from Tsolekile’s youth – should be discounted. Along with that of former CSA independent director Eugenia Kula-Ameyaw, who ironically came up with the SJN idea.

That she actually has very little clue on the game in this country was borne out by much of her evidence being picked apart by the compelling testimony of SACA chief executive Andrew Breetzke, CSA’s acting head of pathways Eddie Khoza and acting CEO Pholetsi Moseki.

High-profile lawyer David Becker, along with Moseki, also cleared up many of the untruths about how Graeme Smith came to be in CSA’s service as director of cricket.

It is a pity that none of Smith, Mark Boucher or AB de Villiers have given public testimony, but hopefully there is enough in their affidavits for Ntsebeza to have a clear picture of their side of the story.

It is to be hoped that Ntsebeza, who seemed to grow increasingly frustrated towards the end of the hearings but managed to remain in control and exude a definite air of fairness, is able to produce a final report that CSA can call into service to ensure they continue the progress in transformation that they have made.

The importance of the SJN is to guide CSA into the future and not to settle the scores of those who are bitter, especially those who are chiefly responsible for their own demise.

Selection and quotas will always be a contentious issue. And even though Khaya Zondo was clearly unfairly treated in 2015, it is difficult to say it was on the basis of his colour given the fact that Black people, and not just De Villiers, were involved in that controversy.

Speaking of being unfair, July himself admitted that targets were discriminatory but were designed to undo previous wrongs. It is an argument with huge merit, but the other side of the coin is that innocent people are being punished for the sins of their fathers.

I always think the opinions of West Indian great Michael Holding should guide one’s view in most cricketing discussions. But even he appeared a bit stumped by the whole quotas issue when he addressed the SJN hearings at their closure.

Calling them “an unnecessary burden” for players of colour, allowing the churlish to say they are only in the team because of regulations, he added that he understood the reason for them because people wanted to see a team that is fully representative and that the fear is, without quotas, this will not happen quickly enough.

Holding said he hoped they would eventually no longer be necessary.

My hope is that the SJN leads to exactly that, where all cricketers in this country have an equal opportunity to play for the Proteas.

The players union gets involved in Proteas matters when the team as a whole is affected by an issue and that’s exactly why the South African Cricketers’ Association have been offering their support to the squad over the last 24 hours in the wake of the Quinton de Kock ‘taking a knee’ controversy, CEO Andrew Breetzke said on Wednesday.

De Kock withdrew from the Proteas’ T20 World Cup match against the West Indies a couple of hours before the start after Cricket South Africa issued a directive on the morning of the game instructing all players to take a knee in support of Black Livers Matter.

While CSA are awaiting a report from team management before deciding on what action to take, and De Kock spent Wednesday with agent Dave Rundle crafting a statement to explain his actions, SACA have been actively involved in protecting the interests of the team as a whole.

“It’s a complex and complicated scenario and our focus has been on supporting the team over the last 24 hours,” Breetzke told The Citizen on Wednesday. “But we’ve engaged with Quinton a lot too.

“The timing of CSA’s directive has been destructive to the team environment at the World Cup. While SACA would have preferred a unified team stance on taking the knee, the players’ stance has not changed in 12 months.

“So this directive by the CSA Board should have been made before the World Cup and not during the tournament. The timing of the directive is the problem for the players. We always seem to have issues at world cups,” Breetzke said.

Although the players have not been able to come up with a unified response to supporting BLM, Breetzke said “This current Proteas team has had more culture camps and discussions about diversity under Temba Bavuma than any other Proteas side.”

While the cricketing world eagerly awaits De Kock’s explanation for the stance he took, the fallout has continued with unconfirmed reports from India saying his IPL franchise, the Mumbai Indians, will not be re-engaging his services at the next auction. But after a fairly average last season for them, they might have been looking to move on anyway from a big earner with a reported $500 000 contract.

The Big Bash League in Australia has, however, already put out the welcome mat for De Kock should he no longer be playing for the Proteas this summer.

“We encourage our players to think about the issues and express their views as they see appropriate,” Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins told The Daily Telegraph in Australia.

“We would certainly be interested in a player of his calibre to come to the BBL. It would be great for the competition.”

Fullback Matthew Morgan and centre Willis Halaholo cruised over for soft tries as the Sharks suffered an eeuw-worthy first half which left them with too much to do after the break as they went down 23-17 to Cardiff in their United Rugby Championship match at the Arms Park on Saturday night.

Those early strikes put Cardiff 17-0 up but the Sharks showed compelling determination as they scored 10 points – prop Thomas du Toit powering over for try – in the last 10 minutes of the first half to set up an intriguing encounter.

In the second half, the Sharks closed to within three points with nine minutes remaining as their kicking game, Cardiff being unable to control a good up-and-under, led to a penalty, followed by a lineout maul, strong carries by the forwards and then a super long pass out wide by replacement flyhalf Joaquin Diaz Bonilla put wing Marnus Potgieter over for the try.

But either side of that, Cardiff flyhalf Rhys Priestland kicked two penalties, which were enough to secure victory for the home side.

What was galling, however, for the Sharks was how they enjoyed 59% possession and 69% territory in the second half but failed to make it really count on the scoreboard.

“It’s a very disappointing result because a lot of effort went in, particularly in the second half,” coach Sean Everitt said. “But we were just not good enough to get across the line. One needs to be clinical at this higher level and we were not as good as we should have been at taking out chances.

“We were under the pump in the first half, but we did exceptionally well to get back into the game. But in the second half we spilled chances close to the line, and credit needs to go to Cardiff for how well they defended. But with a bit of luck, we would have won this game,” Everitt said.

The Sharks’ early problems lay in defensive failures. Cardiff fullback Matthew Morgan was able to change direction behind a scrum outside the visitors’ 22 and then burst through two weak tackles to score the opening try, followed by centre Willis Halaholo knifing through from a set-play at a lineout after Sharks fullback Curwin Bosch had inexplicably dropped a kick.

Between them, Bosch and Ruan Pienaar were like an archer shooting with a bow blowing in a gale as three penalties were missed.

And while the Sharks’ pack put in a fine performance in the second half, dominating the collisions with ball-in-hand and putting in the big hits in defence, it’s  credit to the bravery of the Cardiff defence that they stood firm, also repelling a handful of rolling mauls inside their 22.

Scorers

Cardiff – Tries: Matthew Morgan, Willis Halaholo. Conversions: Rhys Priestland (2). Penalties: Priestland (3).

Sharks – Tries: Thomas du Toit, Marnus Potgieter. Conversions: Curwin Bosch, Boeta Chamberlain. Penalty: Chamberlain.

After their morale-boosting win over the Ospreys, the Sharks will once again be looking to the terrific game-management skills shown by halfbacks Ruan Pienaar and Boeta Chamberlain as they try to back up that triumph with victory over Cardiff in their United Rugby Championship match at the Arms Park on Saturday night.

Giving up territory and penalties were the two main problems for the Sharks in their opening two losses to Munster and Glasgow Warriors, but coach Sean Everitt is hopeful that those two departments have now been sorted out for their meeting with the Welshmen.

“We had struggled with our game-management, which meant we didn’t have any territory, and we also gave away a number of penalties,” Everitt said.

“But then it was totally different against Ospreys, we gave away very few penalties and that’s against a team that plays for penalties and territory. Ruan and Boeta were outstanding with the way they controlled the game.

“Boeta is filling a big hole in terms of our depth at flyhalf, we’ve been blooding him, giving him confidence, and I was very pleased with how he dominated the show. He has a big contribution to make.

“We left a few opportunities on the field though, the bonus point was there for the taking, so we have worked hard on our accuracy and execution. There was definitely still room for improvement,” Everitt said.

The breakdown is sure to be a key area again and Cardiff, who utterly dominated that department in the first half of their loss against the Bulls, but were then outwrestled there in the second half, derive much of their momentum from that phase.

Openside flank Dylan Richardson, whose talents were this week confirmed to be rehomed to Scotland rugby, will spearhead the Sharks’ efforts in that regard.

Like the Bulls, the Sharks have been in contact with former South African Test referee Tappe Henning, who is now the Match Official Commissioner in Scotland, to help them with the different interpretations being used at the breakdown up north.

“It’s been great to have Tappe with us, he helped the Bulls and he has certainly added value to us. We’ve been penalised quite heavily at the breakdown, but we do go hard at the ball. But also our attacking breakdown has been a struggle,” Everitt said. The Sharks will be hoping the turnaround in fortunes at that crucial phase of the game will be as dramatic as it was for the Bulls.