Ken Borland

South African cricket has lost its position of influence in the global game according to both the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Interim Board and the minister of sport, which is part of the reason they have been treated with such disdain by Cricket Australia (CA).

CSA have lodged an official complaint against CA with the International Cricket Council (ICC) over Australia’s failure to honour their commitment to a Test tour that was meant to start on February 24, ostensibly due to fears over Covid-19. But South African cricket, now represented by the acting president of the Members Council, Rihan Richards, have reportedly lost their voice in the ICC hallways of power so it would be no surprise if their calls for compensation fall on deaf ears.

“South Africa have always enjoyed a position of prominence in international cricket, but of late it seems their standing is the opposite of that,” sports minister Nathi Mthethwa said in his opening comments during a virtual report-back session with the Interim Board on Friday.

“CSA has lost its place of prestige in the ICC, which is no surprise because there has been so much internal struggle in South African cricket and therefore a lack of focus on affairs at the ICC. That has allowed an imbalance in world cricket and we have a long way to restore our reputation.

“CA has been referred by us, but there are hints that The Big Three might reform themselves. CSA needs to get their house in order in order to return to a position of influence,” Interim Board member Haroon Lorgat, a former CEO of the ICC, added.

Dr Stavros Nicolaou, the chairman of the Interim Board, said the likely complete cancellation of the Australian tour showed CSA needed to work on establishing stronger relationships with countries like India.

“I’m not sure we’re going to be able to postpone the Australian tour to a suitable date even though we consulted widely with their medical team and their medical experts. The balance of power in international cricket has been brought into question. We need to strengthen our strategic position and we ned to tap into our other relationships with India, for example through BRICS.

“There was extensive consultation with CA and we made significant upgrades to our biosecure bubble, acceded to all of their demands. Then at the beginning of the month they advised us the tour would not proceed which was extremely disappointing. They said we had hit the peak of our second wave and our strain was more virulent, but on the day they notified us, we had a 75% reduction in cases and our strain is not more virulent but more contagious,” Nicolaou said.

Mthethwa also said he has full confidence in the Interim Board and their ability to deliver the AGM in the next couple of months.

“The Interim Board has not disappointed us, their initial appointment was for three months from October but we made provision to extend that and we are satisfied with the work they have done. The Interim Board understands the importance of transformation and they are not compromising on that. Some delays in their work have not been in their control, such as disciplinary processes.

“But I have full confidence in the Interim Board, they have been reporting to me and I am confident that the stance they have taken in disciplinary matters is according to the book, I have no fears about that. It is concerning though that there are these distractions that are trying to take our eyes off the ball. But I am glad that the Interim Board is consistently focused on the task at hand,” Mthethwa said.

Nicolaou committed the Interim Board to completing their work in the next two months.

“The implementation of the Nicholson recommendations are our most important task, to modernise, strengthen and enhance CSA’s governance. Professor Michael Katz, the foremost expert on that, has been given the mandate for that and has shared an amended MoI with us. That needs to be agreed to by the Members Council at a special general meeting which we envisage happening in the first two weeks of March.

“That will provide the platform for us to go to the AGM, which we anticipate happening between April 10-17, when a new permanent board, and an appropriate gap between them and the Members Council, and a new era for cricket will be inaugurated. But we have no control over the timing of disciplinary processes, they are both objective and independent, and postponements and delays are not unexpected,” Nicolaou said.

Cricket South Africa’s Members Council announced on Thursday that they have declined to accept the interim board they themselves were part of compiling, sending them on a collision course with Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa.

The Members Council said in their statement that they will no longer recognise the interim board due to material differences between the two bodies in relation to conflicts of interest, lines of responsibility and accountability, and a breakdown in the relationship between the provincial presidents and the nine would-be directors that were agreed to during the negotiation process between CSA, the Minister of Sport, Sascoc and the South African Cricketers’ Association.

“The Members Council is not prepared to appoint the members of the proposed interim board to be directors of CSA in terms of the MOI. However, the Members Council will continue to work with the Minister, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, and Sascoc on a collaborative basis to address and correct the ills of the past. The basis for the relationship between the parties is clearly prescribed by the law and requires mutual respect by all parties in complying with their obligations,” acting CSA president Rihan Richards said.

By threatening the Minister with legal proceedings, CSA could open themselves up to terrible consequences, including Mthethwa withdrawing their right to represent the country, thereby scuppering the England tour later this month, as well as the upcoming Tests against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia. The financial damage to CSA would be devastating.

Unsurprisingly, CSA’s latest act of defiance has not gone down terribly well with the interim board.

Judge Zak Yacoob, the chairman of the interim board, issued a statement saying the “current situation was untenable” and that they were “determined to continue our work in the public interest and in the best interests of cricket in South Africa”.

“We are thus dismayed to be in receipt of what we can only describe as an obstructionist, legalistic letter from the Members’ Council while we have tried to put structures in place and hold individuals within CSA to account. We are of the view that the conduct of the Members’ Council is an attempt to stymie the work of our Board.

“The Board has been hard at work for the past two weeks since being mandated by the Minister to restore the credibility of CSA. It accepted this mandate publicly and with due care. The failures of corporate governance within Cricket SA are well-known and the cricket-loving public has watched Cricket SA lurch from crisis to crisis,” Yacoob said.