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Crisis in SA cricket seems far from over as divisions are laid bare

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 The crisis in South African cricket seems far from over. The latest media conference with members of the interim board of Cricket South Africa and the Members Council laid bare that divisions between the two bodies that run cricket are still wide. The media was also given a tongue lashing over what, interim board chair, Judge Zak Yacoob says was too much coverage to those with an axe to grind.

Yacoob confirmed that the disciplinary hearing against company secretary, Welsh Gwaza, will take place next week. It will be held over two days, led by an independent person. But the fall out from the Fundudzi Forensic Audit and other investigations are not the only problems they are facing.

The initial nine board members are now down to seven. Xolani Vonya has been barred from their meetings, with questions raised about his honesty. Yacoob confirmed that players representative, Omphile Ramela, is also out for being an obstructionist, according to Yacoob.

“Generally defending the indefensible, generally refusing to accept the majority, he seems to make a distinction between what is right and majority decisions. And if he feels that majority decisions are wrong, then he can continue to fight about them for hours and hours. He does not have the discipline to accept majority decisions, he has been obstructive in relation to every difficult decision we have had to take, and it has been virtually impossible to deal with him,” says the interim Cricket SA board chair.

The board was also questioned about transformation. It was announced last week that they were putting the new instructions on hold.  The board was directed to ensure that teams include seven players of colour by 2023.

However, Yacoob says transformation is a difficult issue in all aspects of human life.

“Transformation is absolutely important, but transformation is very difficult. And those in power find it very difficult to embrace transformation completely. And that is not so (only) in cricket. That is so in the whole world. And that is so even in so-called sophisticated countries of this world,” says the retired justice.

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Yacoob also addressed the recent England tour, which was cut short amidst breaches of COVID-19 protocols. He says the board is satisfied that the rules are sufficient and that they were followed. He says he believes the Sri Lanka tour is on course, and he’s confident their players will arrive next week as scheduled.

But he says they’ve learnt about giving guests too much leeway.

“We were too lax with the English and their desire to do things which our strict view they shouldn’t be doing. And unfortunately, we were stronger in preventing our players from doing anything, and we allowed the visitors a little more laxity.”

The media conference was attended by members of the board, the members’ Council and CSA’s Exco. It’s clear that they have a long way to go before all the issues, both to do with governance and personal, are running smoothly. It may be difficult for them to do before the interim board’s term ends early next year.

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