Cricket SA chooses to thumb nose at Nicholson recommendations

JOHANNESBURG: Cricket SA’s board of directors put the organisation’s administrative reforms into reverse yesterday, creating great distance between themselves and Judge Chris Nicholson’s recommendations made last year.

Instead of a sleeker board, comprising a balance between directors with expertise outside of cricket and administrators familiar with the demands of the sport locally, the decisions made at the special meeting of the current board yesterday agreed to a new board, which will eventually total 16 – just three fewer than the current structure.

In his report into the game’s administration last year following an inquiry which led to the suspension of CSA chief executive Gerald Majola, Nicholson recommended an 11member board which should include nine non-executive independent members.

Cricket SA, after initially agreeing with Nicholson’s rec- ommendations, thought a better fit for the organisation would be a five-five split – with five independents, five nonindependents – and a chief executive.

However, yesterday it was decided that an interim board consisting of five independent directors and seven non-independents would serve for 18 months, after which a further four directors would be added – two independent and two nonindependent.

The outcome is a victory for the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), which is vehemently opposed to a balance between independents and non-independents.