Sathiaseelan gets the nod as KZN Inland CEO
CHATSWORTH Sporting cricket stalwart Jason Sathiaseelan has been appointed as the new chief executive of the KwaZulu-Natal Inland Cricket Union.
Sathiaseelan has been serving as cricket services manager for the KZN Inland Union over the past few years and believes this has prepared him well for his new role.
“Although I was the cricket services manager, I believe that I have been fulfilling most roles of a CEO at KZN Inland.
“It has prepared me well for this position. Leadership is key and being the cricket services manager has allowed me to lead a very good and dynamic staff. I have trained and mentored most of the staff at KZN Inland, so we work well as a team and we have created a family atmosphere,” Sathiaseelan told POST.
Since Sathiaseelan arrived in the provincial cricket structure, it has been making gradual progress.
Last month, the KZN Inland Tuskers won the One Day Cup second division after beating the Northern Cape Heat in the final at the City Oval in Pietermaritzburg.
“When I took over at KZN Inland, we were tenth on the CSA scorecard. In my first year we finished third and got the most improved award from Cricket South Africa (CSA).
“Ever since, we have not finished below third and two years ago, we were number one in the country. I also introduced junior cricket, veterans cricket and ladies cricket at club level. This was previously non-existent,” said Sathiaseelan.
Sathiaseelan is working on a five-year strategic plan which he hopes will place cricket in a healthy position in KZN, while also creating more opportunities for the public and reviving crowd attendance.
“My first goal would be to get our Tuskers team to win division two and gain promotion to division one.
“This will open up many opportunities for Tuskers and KZN cricket. I would
like KZN Inland to build a good financial reserve so that we can continue with our development projects and reward our hard-working staff. Covid has hurt cricket.
It has been very long since restrictions were uplifted so spectators returning to stadiums will be slow initially but I have no doubt that spectators will return and support this wonderful sport again,” he said.
Women’s cricket in South Africa has been on the rise, with the Proteas Women’s team producing some of the world’s best players and KwaZulu-Natal being a top provider of the talent. Sathiaseelan looks forward to developing women’s cricket further.
“Women’s cricket is one of my priorities. For the first time we will be having a T20 festival with 10 ladies club teams in September.
“The performance of our own KZN Inland ladies team has been on the rise this season and we look forward to building on the fantastic foundations being laid,” he said.
Sathiaseelan was a founding member of Chatsworth Sporting in 2002 and has served as its president for many years.
“I am looking at putting together a team that can start assuming the responsibilities of running Chatsworth Sporting while I will oversee the activities at the club,” he said.