20 Comments

The content is very depressing, but hugely informative and I believe we are privileged to hear the truth from you, Neil--thank you!!

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What if the professional body broke away from CSA, formed their own body, supported by all professional players and asked government and the ICC to support them as the SA professional cricket organisation, rather like the Premier league when it broke away from the Football Association?

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Great column Neil - but my oath, what a shambles. Watching Australia implode to a power SA test team in 2018 seems a distant memory. Little did we know how deep the rot was. Hoping and praying the minster hoofs the “shameful eight” deep into touch!

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In short Neil, its a Cluster F.

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Indeed, Mark, but one which I have a previously unimagined confidence will be unclustered. For 18 months I have been battling to rise above my gloom... but now, apparently, all the gloves are off. Even the velvet ones. An entire industry cannot be compromised by the selfish impertubability of eight people. It can't.

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Good post. It’s a shame RSA cricket has been brought to this position. My native country had a Supreme Court appointed cricket board for a while to clean up its corruption. I wonder if that is an option. That has potential conflicts of their own but maybe for a short term could be a solution.

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Thank you, Gopal. I appreciate your perspective very much. I'm reasonably close to what is/has happened in India and have followed it with great interest. I must confess I was sceptical about the process at first, having seen (and heard about) Indian cricket politics on a dozen wonderful tours to the country, but 'right' appears to have prevailed over 'wrong'. which is greatly encouraging...

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Has it worked? The BCCI got rid of Shashank last year and now have got rid of Sawney. Srinivasan may not be visible... but he's up high like all master puppeteers pulling the strings. We're back to the bad old days (which admittedly were only a few years ago!).

The IPL will grow to 10 teams and 3 months because that's in the best interest of the BCCI. Its why Sawney had to go as he wants more ICC events and that would be problematic to the IPL expansion.

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Can we name and shame the selfish destructive eight?

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Bloody right we will. And their backgrounds, including how they 'got to power' within their provinces...

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Great to hear. Thank you.

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hi manners what happens if the minister intervenes now? Will SA be sanctioned by the ICC?

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It's a ticklish one. If the Minister overtly 'took control' of CSA then the ICC would be constitunially bound to expel CSA. If he 'merely' withdraws official sanction of the national team and leaves CSA to carry on 'as usual', the ICC will be faced with an awkward predicament... :(

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Let's hope and pray this doesn't happen . The cricketing world will much poorer without a SA team in it

Let's also hope in due course we can be talking of on field matters not off the of the field issues

One more question though should the icc expel SA as a member nation during the IPL will the players affected?

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The players in the IPL will (should) be unaffected as they have signed release agreements with CSA.

I'm confident that sanity will prevail - having spoken with several governmental sources.

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Hi Neil. It's such a sad business and one can only hope that sanity will ultimately prevail although this is possibly optimistic.

Just a question. What would be the attitude of the ICC should the minister intervene?

Cheers

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Inmates still running the asylum ... many good qualified people getting disillusioned very sad

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The inmates are being rounded up. They are backing themselves into an ever-decreasing corner.

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But who are the replacements? !!!

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Inmates still running the asylum ... many good qualified people getting disillusioned very sad

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