Biff’s parting shot confirms what we feared

The withdrawal of Graeme Smith this week from contention for the position of Director of Cricket, citing the lack of freedom to make his own decisions, now makes it abundantly obvious that the crisis in our cricket can be laid squarely at the door of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) board and executive management.

It also makes it clear that the much-vaunted restructuring of CSA management is seemingly all about the concentration of power in one man – CEO Thabang Moroe. The newly instituted position of Director of Cricket is meant to report directly to the CEO and if a person of Smith’s undoubted calibre says he does not have “the necessary confidence that I would be given the level of freedom and support to initiate the required changes” then it can only be because it is the CEO who would be interfering.

Which is why the board are culpable because it is their responsibility to keep oversight over the CEO; the fiduciary duties of directors is a legal obligation. The lack of spine the men and women on the board are currently showing is an absolute disgrace – turning a blind eye to the destruction of a game loved by millions of South Africans.

Some people have questioned the qualifications of Smith, ignoring the example of how another former captain, Andrew Strauss, has so emphatically turned around the fortunes of England as their director of cricket.

But for those who have forgotten, Smith was the captain of the most successful South African side ever – they were No 1 in all formats at some stage between 2007 and 2010 – and holds the world record for the most number of Tests as captain (109). But the numbers only tell half of the story. He was the driving force in the development of a new, united culture within the Proteas; the politics of transformation were seldom a factor while he was at the helm, even while the team more successfully reflected the demographics of the game. @KenBorland

In my opinion, he is South Africa’s greatest captain because he unified a team broken by the Hansie Cronje scandal, embraced transformation and made them the best team in the world.

Smith also has extensive experience in English cricket and the IPL. That he is highly rated worldwide in terms of his cricketing brain and contribution to the game was made clear last month when he was elected as an honorary life member of the MCC.

Smith is just the sort of person with standing in the game that is desperately needed in the corridors and meeting rooms of CSA. The news that he had been interviewed for the Director of Cricket post lifted some of the gloom surrounding the beleaguered organisation. And then came the revelation that he was not interested because he would have to follow the orders of people who have the barest fraction of cricketing knowledge that he does. The backlash for CSA is likely to be severe because they have become the organisation that routinely dashes the hopes of their supporters.

That the South African public is growing thoroughly disenchanted with cricket is evident in the paltry crowds supporting the much-vaunted Mzansi Super League. The interest in the first week of this tournament has been decidedly underwhelming.

A major part of the problem is that CSA insist on owning all the teams and give the franchises only a 20% cut on any profits. As one CEO asked me, “What profits?” The MSL is already expected to make another R120 million loss this year.

But by not co-operating with the franchises, CSA have ensured there is very little incentive for them to pour lots of effort and resources into marketing their teams. In a way, these new MSL brands are competing with existing brands that have taken a lot of effort to build up like the Lions, Cobras, Titans and Dolphins.

The conspiracy theorists among us reckon CSA don’t actually want those brands to become too successful because they want the franchises to be dependent on the mother body and therefore powerless.

So millions of rands will continue to go down the drain trying to animate a tournament that seems to be just an ego project. Nobody seems really interested in it except the lucky players who make some extra money out of it, but the vast majority of those are already well-paid Proteas, Kolpak players, overseas stars or franchise regulars.

What benefit does South African cricket actually derive from the MSL? It’s certainly not financial and the goodwill and gees for the game that was so evident while Smith was captain is going, going, gone.