New Year Test may be moved
Cricket SA CEO Thabang Moroe said there was a possibility the iconic New Year’s Test may not be held at Newlands due to the Western Province Cricket Association’s (WPCA’s) financial and governance issues.
Cricket SA sent out an e-mail on Sunday, saying they had exercised their step-in rights and appointed an administrator to take over the administrative‚ governance and financial affairs of the WPCA until all these functions had been placed on a satisfactory footing.
In the e-mail‚ Cricket SA said it came to their attention that the WPCA board had been conducting business under distressed conditions in their administrative, governance and financial affairs.
Former WPCA CEO Andre Odendaal has been appointed administrator.
The WPCA has also not held an annual general meeting in 2019.
“We are worried as Cricket SA that Newlands may not be able to host the New Year’s Test. But with us sitting around the table and working together to ensure the Test match stays there, we are ready to host it‚” Moroe said.
“This includes getting the City of Cape Town involved and there’s a big construction project going on there. There’s the concern of safety of fans.
“From a security perspective‚ we need to adhere to all the requirements and all involved have to be safe. We also need to uphold the ICC’s [International Cricket Council’s] hosting standards and the tourists and their fans need to be safe.”
Earlier this year WPCA announced they had gone into a partnership with insurance giant Sanlam for an office block development at the ground worth R750m. Sanlam was going to foot 51% of the bill with the union raising 49%.
With England being a money-spinning tour for Cricket SA, it is vital that Newlands is in good working condition for the January 3 match.
Moroe said they would be meeting the WPCA next week‚ from where they could establish a deadline for hosting of the Test.
FROM A SECURITY PERSPECTIVE‚ WE NEED TO ADHERE TO ALL THE REQUIREMENTS AND ALL INVOLVED HAVE TO BE SAFE Thabang Moroe Cricket SA CEO