Ken Borland

Cricket South Africa’s Members Council and Sascoc are likely to discover on Monday what punishment sports minister Nathi Mthethwa is going to hit them with after the stunt they pulled at the weekend’s Special General Meeting of the cricket body, leading to the new Memorandum of Incorporation designed to improve governance not being passed.

In a clearly orchestrated move, Sascoc president Barry Hendricks was parachuted into the SGM, having earlier turned down an invitation to just be an observer, and then delivered a prepared address that basically warned the Members Council that Sascoc would cancel their membership if they went ahead with the amendments to their constitution.

Hendricks had explicitly been warned by Mthethwa, in a letter last week, to not interfere with the process, and now he and Members Council acting president Rihan Richards have been called to a meeting with the minister on Monday.

“You cannot believe how annoyed the Minister is,” sources close to Mthethwa told The Citizen on Sunday.

A statement released by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture on Sunday said the minister was disappointed the Members Council had acted “in bad faith” and he has been left with “no further option but to exercise his rights in terms of Section 13 (5) of the Sports Act” and he “will be taking the necessary steps required to exercise his rights in terms of the law”.

It is likely that he will tell CSA that they are no longer recognised by the Department of Sport, which would lead to them being unable to play any international cricket.

The Interim Board, having failed to win over the recalcitrant Members Council, now only remains in name and will prepare their final report for Mthethwa, their term of office having ended with the SGM at the weekend. It is believed several directors have decided to take no further part in cricket’s affairs.

Cricket South Africa, already in troubled financial waters before the Members Council/Interim Board impasse, will now be in dire straights because leading sponsors and broadcasters are already believed to be preparing to jump ship. One official with knowledge of CSA’s financial situation said a ban on the Proteas would probably mean the organisation would be bankrupt and unable to run the game before the start of next season.

Rassie van der Dussen, the reliable batsman who made yet another half-century on Friday as the T20 series against Pakistan was lost 3-1, admitted after the game that it has been a particularly tough time for the Proteas, and especially the regulars left behind to play with the second-stringers.

With five first-choice players departing for the IPL, South Africa’s resources were always going to be stretched against a full-strength Pakistan side that had already clinched the ODI series, and the home team then suffered another two major blows when captain Temba Bavuma and Van der Dussen himself suffered injuries.

Van der Dussen was able to return for the penultimate match, but his 52 off 36 balls was not able to prevent a three-wicket defeat with a ball remaining, to end another disappointing summer for the Proteas.

“We’ve had our challenges with the guys leaving for the IPL and then the injury blows. If you take seven of the best players out of any team they will be out of it for a while, but that has allowed guys to come in and show what they’re about, a lot of them are experienced franchise players with a lot of cricket under their belt this season.

“There were individuals who were brilliant at different stages, but as a team we weren’t consistent enough, we didn’t deliver a complete performance except in the second match at the Wanderers. We were patchy, which was not going to be good enough for a series against a Pakistan team that is settled with world-class batsmen and bowlers. It’s a bitter pill but we will use these lessons to grow,” Van der Dussen said.

Van der Dussen lauded his bowlers for their effort in almost defending a sub-standard total of just 144, saying the info from the South African batsmen was that it became harder to score as the ball became softer. Both innings reflected that, with the Proteas losing seven wickets for 36 runs from the 13^th over, and Pakistan suffering a collapse of 37 for five from the 10^th over.

“This pitch was bit dryer than for the previous game, the cracks had opened up more and it became slower as the ball got softer, the cutters started gripping, and the scoreboard reflects that. Par score was probably 170 to 180 though, so we were definitely short of runs. At Centurion, on a good pitch, to defend even 200 is tough.

“So I’m very proud of the way our bowlers went about it and the way they have grown this series. At the end of the day you have to look at yourself in the mirror and you know if you have given your all. We wanted to fight every ball, be relentless and never give up. And we fought back very well, which I’m really proud of. If you have to lose then that’s the way to do it,” Van der Dussen said.

Sun City is hoping that luck’s with them this year and they are able to host the Nedbank Golf Challenge, but in the meantime South Africa’s juniors will have the good fortune of playing the Gary Player Country Club in a major event as the new Nedbank Junior Challenge was announced on Wednesday.

The prestigious Nedbank Golf Challenge was not held in 2020 due to Covid and not being able to have crowds in attendance, and tournament director Ken Payet said it was still too early to say whether ‘Africa’s Major’ would be able to take place this year. The European Tour have scheduled the tournament for November 11-14.

“We’ve been having discussions and from the Nedbank and European Tour perspective it is still too early and anything we say would be just speculation. We’re obviously hoping to put it on this year, but it depends on the regulations in place. By the end of June or July we will make a call, but there are just too many moving parts at the moment in terms of the regulations and everyone waiting for the third wave,” Payet said on Wednesday.

The good news though is that the country’s top juniors will get the whole famous Gary Player Country Club experience from May 3-5, with the winner of the event getting to be a part of the Nedbank Golf Challenge as an observer in the inner circle.

The 54-hole tournament will offer world amateur ranking points on a par with the SA Amateur Championship and the 78-man field will be drawn from the top-50 on the GolfRSA rankings as well as giving exposure to an excellent array of development golfers, through the SA Golf Development Board.

The winner will receive a replica of the famous crystal-ball Nedbank Golf Challenge senior trophy and might even be able to play a practice round with one of the players in the field for the professional showpiece.

Grant Hepburn, the CEO of GolfRSA, said there has already been an excellent response to the tournament.

“Entries have been open for one week and we are well over-subscribed already with 86 applications, so we will have the cream of the crop playing. We’re very excited to be taking our top amateurs to such an iconic venue. We all grew up watching the Nedbank Golf Challenge and it is such a big part of the South African sporting scene. This event is important for us to keep producing golfers at the highest level,” Hepburn said.

South Africa looked like they were cleaning up in their T20 match against Pakistan at the Wanderers on Saturday with all the efficiency of a chamois cloth, but in the last five overs of both innings they were about as effective as a cheap calico cloth.

Not only did the Proteas batsmen only score 37 runs in the last five overs of their innings to go from a commanding 151 for three to a decent but far from impregnable 188 for six, but they then allowed Pakistan to go from 132 for three after 15 overs to winning by four wickets with a ball to spare.

It was wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi who had given the Proteas a strong position in the field with another brilliant spell of bowling, the world’s number one T20 bowler taking two for 29 in his four overs.

But in the last five overs there were several full tosses hit to the boundary and Pakistan went into the 20^th over needing 11 to win the first match of the series. Debutant Lizaad Williams actually bowled a decent over, the only boundary he conceded being an edge to third man, but there were two catches missed and the match came to a suitably farcical ending when the winning run came via a throw hitting the stumps and deflecting away.

Opener Mohammad Rizwan was the star of the show, scoring 74 not out off 50 balls, yet another clinical, remorseless innings by the wicketkeeper/batsman. Faheem Ashraf played a key role in the closing stages with his 30 off just 14 balls. Hasan Ali then helped finish the job with nine not out off three deliveries.

Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen were the busy bees at the wicket for South Africa, their half-centuries leading the way.

The pair added 61 for the third wicket, off 33 balls, putting the Proteas in a powerful position. Markram, a late addition to the T20 squad, looked extremely comfortable in his role opening the batting, scoring 51 off 32 deliveries.

Once he was dismissed, wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan taking a fine catch off left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz, Klaasen continued with his big hitting, collecting four sixes before he was caught at short fine leg trying to paddle Hasan.

The captain’s departure led to the buzz being lost as well, the rest of the innings rather fizzling out as Pakistan’s bowlers did exceptionally well, targeting the blockhole.

Pite van Biljon made 34 off 24 balls and the other main contributor to the innings was opener Janneman Malan, who scored a bright 24 off 16 deliveries, including a magnificent straight six off left-arm quick Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Debutant Wihan Lubbe hit his first ball in international cricket for four, but was deceived by a slower delivery from Hasan and caught at a wide deep mid-off two balls later.

Hasan, with two for 28, and Nawaz, who took two for 21, were the standout bowlers for Pakistan.