Cleaning up the Cricket Nest

New Sponsors may be noticing...

On the verge of South Africa’s opening match in the Champions Trophy – an exciting prospect – there is just time to sneak in confirmation that the game may have turned its most important corner in the last decade. Off the field. Which may have a significant effect on it.

Administrative stories can make for dull reading when there’s Rabada, Maharaj, Miller, Klaasen and Jansen to look forward to in a few hours’ time – not to mention the Afghanistan team – but recent developments at CSA are important, so bear with me. I’ll keep it short.

The governing body recently took financial and logistical control of two provinces which were in breach of their contractual, fiscal and governance obligations to the game, and have been for almost three years.

Northern Cape and Border have not submitted unqualified accounts during that period. The CSA Constitution stipulates that such infractions should automatically disqualify the unions from voting at the CSA AGM and lead to a suspension of their membership of the host body.

But political tension, a fear of reprisals and ‘consequences’ and a meek (weak) acquiescence to other unions sympathetic to the miscreants led to no action being taken, for two years. This isn’t a judgement or even comment on the business affairs or conduct of either union, although comment is easy to make. For now, it is merely a statement of fact: they should have had their membership rescinded two years ago.

The recent, relative success of the Proteas mens and womens teams, and the under-19s, has led to increasing interest from previous and potentially new sponsors to reignite their involvement, or start a new one, in cricket. Brand managers of three former sponsors of the national team have remained in contact with me over the years. One sent a WhatsApp message when the news broke of CSA’s ‘Step-In’ measures: “It just never ends, does it?”

In South African cricket, sponsorship isn’t just about the money. It’s about providing much-needed credibility for a game which has lacked it off the field for so long that memories are struggling to recall when it was last there.

In mid 2023, former Northern Cape financial manager, Jean Pierre van Niekerk, was suspended after defrauding the union of around half a million rands and was subsequently sentenced to four years in prison just over a year later. The wheels of justice etc… The union did not replace him.

But that’s primarily a ‘crime’ thing, not a cricket thing. That’s up to the police and public prosecutors to deal with. Cricket people need to recognise the danger and reputational damage done to the whole game by such incidents and do the right thing. Isolate the wrong-doers and do everything possible to facilitate justice because it really does affect the whole game.

How does the Northern Cape union survive? On annual handouts from CSA, which is why they require complete accounts to show where and how their money is being spent. Failure to do so materially affects CSA’s own annual income and therefore all of the other unions which survive on the mother body’s charity.

The narrow-minded protection of their ‘turf’ by some unions is not ‘their business’ – it affects everyone. NCC president, Gibson Molale, appears to have a real, hands-on relationship with the game, unlike some of the other presidents on the Members Council. He enjoys being seen coaching and even started a winter academy. He, and the game, would be better off sticking to that because his primary job as president is to preside over a union which is honest, transparent and dedicated to sharing a common goal.

He is claiming ‘victimisation’ and says he asked CSA for arbitration to resolve the financial impasse. When asked by the Daily Maverick to provide evidence that his union was not guilty, he sounded strangely more concerned about the potential loss of his place on the 2027 World Cup Local Organising Committee (LOC).

The failure of provinces, specifically these two, to meet basic governance standards has impacted the game negatively,” said SA Cricketers Association CEO, Andrew Breetzke. “It impacts the provincial structure. It impacts the players’ ability to play within those provinces, it impacts transformation.

“It impacts the whole Cricket South Africa infrastructure and reputation. So, we think this is a very positive move because good governance is not negotiable.”

My reply to the WhatsApp message from the former sponsor was: “Maybe it will stop now, maybe. The CSA Executive has finally shown some balls with the Step-In at Northern Cape and Border. Watch this space…”

Now, bring on Afghanistan!