CSA in race to appoint director of cricket
CRICKET SA president Chris Nenzani admits “time is of the essence” as the troubled organisation tries to secure the signature of its new director of cricket.
Nenzani said that former Proteas captain Graeme Smith was given until Wednesday to make up his mind about whether he would taking the position.
Smith was understood to have agreed to fill the role in an acting capacity for the duration of the England series.
“I spoke to Graeme… he has not agreed on a contract but we have stressed that time is of the essence. Things need to move fast,” he said.
England arrive in the country this week and Smith, should he agree, will have to appoint a head coach for the Proteas, and bring a panel of selectors together to pick the squad.
Nenzani said on Saturday that he and the board of directors were not responsible for the crisis that has engulfed the CSA and the sport in the last week. When asked why he and the remaining nine board members hadn’t resigned in the wake of the weeks of controversy that included an almost complete breakdown of the CSA’s relationship with the players and the loss of a headline sponsor, he said the board was not complicit.
“The board is not complicit in terms of decision-making, it took decisions and those decisions had to be implemented by the CEO and his management,” said Nenzani.
The CSA suspended its chief executive Thabang Moroe on Friday pending a forensic audit of his management practices. On Saturday, the body named Jacques Faul, the current chief executive of the Northerns Cricket Union, as interim chief executive.
Nenzani said he saw no reason why he or the board should resign, saying they had the backing of CSA’s highest decision-making body, the members council, at the Friday night meeting.
“The council after a long discussion on Friday night felt we should continue in order to ensure that the challenges that are facing the organisation are dealt with.”
THE team of Jacques Faul and Graeme Smith could be just the right combination to clean up the mess that South African cricket finds itself in at the moment.
It has been a week of utter and daily chaos, which culminated on Saturday in the suspension of Cricket South Africa chief executive Thabang Moroe and the appointment of Faul as acting chief executive officer. Former Proteas captain Smith is set to sign on as Director of Cricket.
Sponsors have deserted the brand, the media was shockingly treated in the whole “accreditation saga”, the players’ union was angry enough to contemplate a strike, three independent directors resigned … the timeline of trouble goes on and on.
To make matters even worse, Faul and Smith do not have time on their side, and that is putting it mildly. The first Test against England is now just 18 days away, and as we write there is no official Proteas coach, nor selectors, or director of cricket.
So why do we say Faul and Smith could be the team to turn it around?
For one thing, Faul is known to have a cool head. In 2011 he had a tough job on his hands when he was asked to stand in as chief executive for the disgraced Gerald Majola, but he implemented the Nicholson report with aplomb.
The decision by Standard Bank not to renew their sponsorship is a huge blow, but the response from Faul at Saturday’s press conference was encouraging. He said: “Corporate SA is a small world and they all talk to each other. I can understand why they didn’t renew, but it is a responsibility to engage with them. We have to listen to them and see how we can fix it.”
As for Smith, we all know that courage and determination was what he was all about as captain of the Proteas, and we can expect him to bring those same qualities to the job of Director of Cricket. It is essential that Faul and Smith be allowed to make whatever changes they see fit.
The game of cricket needs strong and immediate action by people of principle.
“Courage and determination was what (Smith) was all about