Ken Borland

Cricket South Africa’s Interim Board have clarified the process for the appointment of independent directors and, as long as the Members Council are still behaving like adults and have given the new MoI majority approval by 11am on Wednesday morning, what the new constitution says about the recruitment of new board members will be thoroughly explained to the public.

The Interim Board on Wednesday morning disputed suggestions published by The Citizen that they have any knowledge of who the applicants to be independent directors are and that they play any role in drawing up a shortlist for the Nominations Committee.

“The Interim Board does not know who has applied and will not be involved in the nominations process other than recruiting one former CSA president to serve on the Nominations Committee. All the applications are under lock and key in the office and will be passed on directly from the office to the Nominations Committee as soon as they are in place,” Interim Board spokeswoman Judith February told The Citizen.

The Interim Board hope to make the whole Memorandum of Incorporation public once the Special Resolution accepting it has been confirmed and will hold a briefing to take the media through the process thereafter.

The Nominations Committee also needs to be put in place later this week and that six-member panel will comprise either a men’s or women’s former international player nominated by SACA, alongside a former CSA president nominated by the Interim Board, a Members Council representative and people from the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Institute of Directors and the Legal Practice Council.

“The Interim Board is certainly not going to be appointing the new board and according to our agreement with the sports minister, nobody from the Interim Board is going to be standing for the new board,” February added.

Sisanda Magala says he is proud of himself for the perseverance he has shown and is enjoying his journey as a professional cricketer now turned international, but warned what he has shown so far in a Proteas shirt is not the best he can do.

Magala showed glimpses of his superb death-bowling skill in the four T20s against Pakistan, but ended with just three wickets and conceded 9.85 runs-per-over. Some of his overs went seriously off the rails, including when he twice bowled back-to-back no-balls during the series, but he showed impressive ability during the 15^th and 17^th overs and the first four balls of the penultimate over in the fourth T20; the 14^th, 18^th and last overs in the second T20 and his second over in the first T20.

The softly-spoken 30-year-old said nerves were a major factor in his performance.

“I’ve been through lots of obstacles before and I just tried to block out all the noise and control what I could control. But my emotions were really up-and-down and on that day I made my debut, I just didn’t know how to react. Normally when you get told you’re playing it’s a bit of a surprise, but the coach told me 24 hours before. During the game I just told myself to never forget that I’ve wanted to play at the top level since I was young.

“It’s my greatest achievement even though I did not perform the way I wanted. But the intensity at international level is very harsh, it’s make-or-break, and I definitely made mistakes. But I’ve enjoyed the journey and to play for my country was reward for all my hard work and because I did not give up regardless. I stayed true to myself and kept persevering,” Magala told Saturday Citizen on Thursday night when he was named the Imperial Lions’ player of the season.

Magala, who was the leading wicket-taker in the domestic T20 tournament which the Lions won, said he struggled to fulfil the different roles he was given in the Proteas attack.

“I definitely learnt to trust my skills more, some things are out of your hands, sometimes you can’t control getting punished by the batsman. It’s a mental challenge as much as anything out on the field and it’s very important to develop a strong mind. The way I bowled my first couple of overs doesn’t really compare to how I bowl at the death.

“At the death I know what to do. Normally at domestic level you have time to get into your spell. But the great thing about the experience is that I can see where I am as a player.”

As one of the most skilful, heavy-ball bowling players in the country, there’s little doubt Magala will be better for his experience in the T20 series. The man who left his comfort zone in the Eastern Cape and fought his way through fitness issues, will surely be seen in the Green and Gold again.

“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.

While Proteas captain Heinrich Klaasen said he did not really know what his team could have done differently to stop the incredible Babar Azam onslaught that led to a crushing nine-wicket defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the third T20 International at Centurion on Wednesday evening, the skipper is not just sitting back and accepting the hiding that was dished out.

“I’ll be going back tonight and doing a lot of homework to see how we can improve and make sure we draw the last game on Friday,” Klaasen said after Babar had slammed 122 off just 59 balls, allowing Pakistan to romp to their stiff target of 204 with two overs to spare. Perpetual nemesis Mohammad Rizwan scored 73 not out in an opening stand of 197.

“It was a very good pitch and watching that batting from behind the stumps was quite something to be honest. We tried a few things, but you don’t want to be trying too many different things on a good pitch like that. They made a lot of good, well-executed balls look bad with great placement. They batted brilliantly and we did not have enough answers.

“Babar is a special player and when he comes off, it’s very difficult to defend. You always feel maybe you could do something different, but what I don’t know. Maybe we’ll reflect on some execution. But I reckon we were 10 runs short, both openers made more than 50 but we were again guilty of not having a set batsman at the back end. And we were very poor in the field, that was especially bad,” Klaasen said after the chastening loss.

Even though South Africa’s bowling – not well supported by lacklustre fielding – looked utterly toothless, Klaasen did not seem that keen on any major changes for the final T20 on Friday at the same venue, which the Proteas have to win to level the series.

“We’re going to be up for it and we have to bounce back and nail our skills. I don’t feel like we need a big change in personnel, we need some consistency in fact. The question is how do you take wickets on a surface like this where there is no turn, the slower balls skid on and the ball travels miles on the Highveld?

“I reckon the way to take wickets is to defend, we need to build pressure by executing our balls. The bowlers need to work harder to do that. We tried to go to death bowing a lot earlier this evening but that didn’t come off. And we strive to be better in the field, we’ve been brilliant in training but I think the guys are trying too hard, they’re not calm enough,” Klaasen said.