Players not happy with CSA proposal
The South African Cricketers Association (Saca) expressed their disappointment yesterday with Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) proposal of a possible interim agreement while the new memorandum of understanding (MOU) is being negotiated by the two parties.
With only days left before the current MOU expires on April 30, CSA released a statement on Wednesday saying the body hopes to finalise the new MOU by July and proposed to extend existing contracts until then.
CSA said it is hopeful this “will ensure South Africa’s professional players, both international and domestic, would not be out of contract and would continue to be paid”.
Yesterday Saca responded in a strongly-worded statement by saying extensions of contracts are easier said than done.
“CSA announced in yesterday’s release that it is willing to extend existing player contracts. This has caused confusion because it doesn’t cater for what is actually happening on the ground for many players,” Saca chief executive Tony Irish said in the statement.
“Some players have already been told they will no longer be contracted, some will be moving between national and franchise contracts, some will be moving between franchises and some will be first-time franchise players.
“Extensions of contract are simply unworkable for all of these players.”
Saca also went on to question why CSA has indicated to only have the new MOU finalised by July.
“We do not understand why such a long further delay may be necessary. We believe the new MOU is likely to be substantially similar to the existing one in most respects,” the statement reads.
“Saca has been doing everything possible from its side for approximately three months to engage with CSA on the MOU and to deal with the key elements to enable player contracts to be finalised well in advance of 30th April 2018, being the date on which the majority of players’ contracts end.
“In past MOUs the key elements have always been agreed by the end of February at the latest to ensure a proper player contracting process can take place well in advance of expiry dates.
“Unfortunately our attempts to date have been met with very little response from CSA and much of our correspondence has gone unanswered.” – Sports Staff
Bulls coach John Mitchell puts a high premium on the energy of the players he selects so he will no doubt have no qualms about naming a team with a loose trio comprised of three No 6s for their Super Rugby match against the Melbourne Rebels in Pretoria today.
A significant knee injury suffered by No 8 Hanro Liebenberg last weekend against the Sharks forced Mitchell into the only change from Durban, with Marco van Staden moving from the openside to the back of the scrum, Thembelani Bholi staying at blindside and Roelof Smit (left) the new wearer of the No 6 jersey. Shaun Adendorff replaces Smit on the bench.
“Marco and Thembelani are both very physical and have high work-rates. Marco is an understated player who just gets on with it and he’s grown from performance to performance. Thembalani has also improved very well and it shows this is very much a learning environment. They may be sixes but I like their physicality,” Mitchell said yesterday. “Roelof is a quality number six.”
While Mitchell was happy to still be able to have continuity in selection, he did acknowledge that certain players, whose minutes played are starting to go off the grid (like centre Jesse Kriel, who has played every minute of every game), will have to be managed, but hopefully without losing any game time.
“It’s always good to be able to stick with continuity, it builds familiarity and keeps everything in sync, as well as building confidence and cohesion,” Mitchell said.
Warrick Gelant, Johnny Kotze, Jesse Kriel, Burger Odendaal (c), Divan Rossouw, Handre Pollard, Ivan van Zyl, Marco van Staden, Thembelani Bholi, Roelof Smit, Lood de Jager, RG Snyman, Trevor Nyakane, Adriaan Strauss, Pierre Schoeman. Bench: Jaco Visagie, Lizo Gqoboka, Frans van Wyk, Jason Jenkins, Shaun Adendorff, Andre Warner, Manie Libbok, Duncan Matthews.