Cobras board, players may solve dispute soon

Cobra's coach Paul Adams. Photo: WILLEM LAW

Cobra's coach Paul Adams. Photo: WILLEM LAW

Published Oct 18, 2016

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Cape Town - The dispute between some Cape Cobras players and their employers following a grievance with coach Paul Adams could finally be resolved within two weeks.

The players, members of Western Cape Cricket (WCC) and the SA Cricketers’ Association (Saca) attended a conciliation process meeting at the Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Saca said in a statement that all parties involved agreed to extend the conciliation process by 14 days, up until November 1, so that they could have an opportunity to try to agree on a “clear process to further monitor, assess and address the situation on the ground”.

Saca chief executive Tony Irish said: “Some pretty forthright discussions took place between the parties at today’s meeting before the Commissioner. The positive is that the parties have given themselves a clear two-week period to come up with a mechanism which will hopefully finally resolve this dispute.”

But for the players and Adams, the show must go on, starting with Thursday’s third Sunfoil Series match against the Warriors at Newlands (10am start). The Cobras have had a poor start to their campaign, losing both their away games to the Highveld Lions (by 10 wickets) and the Knights (by 175 runs).

The batsmen haven’t scored enough runs to mount a serious challenge, with the seniors such as captain Omphile Ramela, Andrew Puttick, Stiaan van Zyl and Dane Vilas producing only one half-century between them.

Puttick, though, should be back for the Warriors clash after missing the Knights game for family reasons, while Adams will hope that youngsters such as Jason Smith and Zubayr Hamza can continue their good form with the bat that they showed in Bloemfontein last week.

Smith scored an exhilarating 100 not out off just 88 balls in the second innings, while Hamza contributed 68. Van Zyl also regained his touch with an 83 in the first knock, and Aviwe Mgijima added a half-century as well.

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