Allegations of spying in Cricket SA

ONE of South Africa’s cricket franchises says it has established that Cricket South Africa (CSA) has been spying on its e-mails — and another suspects it is being spied on.

A third franchise believes it is also being monitored, but says the intrusion could be from inside its own provincial structures.

The claims of Orwellian behaviour come less than two weeks after the chief executive of cricket’s governing body, Haroon Lorgat, escaped pun- ishment by the International Cricket Council — despite admitting that he had offered journalists interviews in exchange for not publishing articles that were potentially damaging to CSA.

The remaining three franchises said they were “shocked” and “alarmed” by the allegations and considered them evidence of “unethical” management by CSA.

None of the six franchises, who all depend on the governing body for financial support, would speak on the record.

“Maybe we’re being paranoid, maybe we’re not,” a franchise official said. “But if we catch them there will be s**t.”

CSA president Chris Nenzani said: “It is very difficult to comment on something like this. My advice is that they must approach the law enforcement agencies of this country.”

Sources say CSA staff have been threatened with lie-detector tests, although Nenzani did not comment on this allegation.

And, a source said, the administrators feared that “board members walk out of meetings and immediately call the press”.

Three sources said CSA’s former legal and compliance manager, Pume Canca, left the organisation in part because the minutes he had taken at meetings were altered before appearing in reports.

Canca did not respond to requests for comment.

CSA’s extreme response to criticism comes in the wake of its row with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The BCCI generates more than 70% of cricket’s world revenue, so the CSA cannot afford to jeopardise the relationship.

The council probe into Lorgat was sparked by BCCI suspicions that he was involved in the preparation, or had prior knowledge, of a statement by a former council official critical of the BCCI and its president, Narayanaswami Srinivasan.