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Cricket SA Acting President A.K. Khan (left) and CEO Gerald Majola (right).

The distance from Johannesburg to Auckland is 12218km, the time difference is 11 hours – in the days before the advent of the internet you could describe New Zealand as being a world away.

The players and the management of the South African cricket team, must secretly be delighted that they’ll be there for the next six weeks. Oh, sure they’ll miss the comforts of home, family and the sunshine, but with the faeces about to hit the fan at Cricket South Africa (CSA), it’s best the national team, CSA’s most valuable asset, don’t get any of the administrative mess falling on them.

For, while the South African side is in New Zealand, Judge Chris Nicholson’s final report concerning the bonus payments made to CSA’s chief executive and other administrative staff is scheduled to be made public. That report is expected to delve into matters of corporate governance at CSA and also recommend the way forward for the organisation.

And while we wait for Nicholson’s report, the petty in-fighting at CSA continues. This week’s latest incident involving the head of legal and compliance, Ajay Sooklal, being asked by the Board to explain a claim for R600 000 he made for his services last year, typifies an organisation that looks confused and badly in need of a restoration of order.

You can’t help but look at this latest incident in light of Sooklal’s submission to the Nicholson inquiry late last year when he was critical of the Board and the chief executive. While Gerald Majola has said the latest incident is merely an attempt to further sulley his name – he claimed this week that it was a Board affair and had nothing to do with him – Sooklal says the payment of R600 000 for his work, was vetted by Majola.

Naturally, Nicholson can’t involve himself in this latest squabble, he has got more than enough on his plate. But it further highlights how dysfunctional CSA has become – this week they also cancelled the launch of the domestic T20, just two days before the function, and like the 1-day Cup that competition appears as if it will be played without a sponsor.

It is difficult to fathom how the CSA Board can possibly remain in place after the Nicholson report is published. While they continue to ‘work’ on cricket matters and were recently taken through the Companies Act, which Majola had breached when being paid bonuses during the IPL, there is a sense that the Board is living on borrowed time. The public is disillusioned with the sport’s administrators, and sponsors are wary of attaching their names to the sport. Only the appointment of some new faces will suffice. – The Star