Smith, Faul reprimanded

Graeme Smith and Jacques Faul made it abundantly clear this week that after their recent dealings with the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) they believe Saurav Ganguly is the right man to become the next International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman.

But their error was in not following the correct channels for such shows of support, which is through the Cricket South Africa Board (CSA).

Shashank Manohar’s term as ICC chairman is set to expire in July and the Indian has suggested he will not stand for another stint, meaning world cricket’s top post could be up for grabs at the ICC annual general meeting in a couple of months. Ganguly, the current president of the BCCI, has been identified as a front-runner to replace his compatriot.

Smith, who captained the Proteas against Ganguly’s Indian team, has reason to back him because the BCCI have been supportive of accommodating South Africa in the post-Covid Future Tours Programme, most notably by agreeing in principle to playing three T20 internationals here at the end of August.

“Strong leadership is going to be the key for cricket going forward and we need people who understand the modern game. I’ve known Saurav for a long time, he is highly-respected and is in the best position to be the new president [chairman] of the ICC,” Smith, South Africa’s Director of Cricket, said this week.

But his statements were followed by CSA president Chris Nenzani (above) calling on him to “respect both the ICC protocol and our own protocol in deciding which candidate to back. There have been no candidates nominated as yet and once such nominations have been made the Board of CSA will take its decision in terms of its own protocol.” What that means is that the CSA Board will decide who to back for ICC chairman.