Johannesburg - Cricket South Africa’s president Chris Nenzani said Saturday that he and the organisation’s Board of Directors are not responsible for the crisis that has engulfed the organisation and the sport in the last week.
Nenzani, when asked why he and the remaining nine members of the Board hadn’t resigned in the wake of weeks of controversy that included an almost complete breakdown of CSA’s relationship with the players and the loss of a headline sponsor, said the Board was not complicit.
“The Board is not complicit in terms of decision making, the Board took decisions and those decisions had to be implemented by the CEO and his management,” said Nenzani.
Cricket SA suspended its CEO Thabang Moroe on Friday pending a forensic audit of his management practices. On Saturday, Cricket SA named Jacques Faul, the current chief executive of the Northerns Cricket Union, as interim CEO, for the period of the Moroe in inquiry.
Nenzani meanwhile saw no reason why he or the Board should resign, explaining that they got the backing of CSA’s highest decision-making body, the Member’s Council at a robust and lengthy meeting on Friday night. “
“We have given the (former) CEO responsibility indeed, so that he can be accountable to the Board, and the Board will hold the CEO accountable and the Board accounts to the Members Council, in terms of decisions it is taking and how it acts out those decisions. The Members Council after a long discussion on Friday night felt we (Nenzani and the Board) should continue, in order to ensure that the challenges that are facing the organisation are dealt with.”
That it is the Board and Nenzani who caused the challenges in the first place, seemed lost on Nenzani and indeed the 14 provincial presidents who make up the Members Council. Nenzani in fact claimed that by holding a press conference, following a Board meeting in Johannesburg on Saturday, was his and the Board’s display of them taking responsibility.
“That is why we are sitting here to talk to the nation, so that we are able to say we have taken these decisions to address matters that require to that. We make it very clear that we are explaining the contextual factors in terms of explaining decisions and telling the nation why those decisions weren’t taken at the time they would have expected those decisions to be taken,” said Nenzani.
One of those decisions relates to the appointment of a Director Cricket, which had been a process Moroe started post the World Cup. And while Moroe identified former Proteas captain Graeme Smith as his preferred candidate for the job, he left Smith frustrated at the length of time it was taking to deal with various concerns Smith had.
On Saturday Nenzani revealed that Smith had been given until Wednesday to make up his mind about whether he would taking the position. Smith is understood to have agreed to fill the role in an acting capacity for the duration of the England series.
“I spoke to Graeme (on Saturday morning) he has not agreed on a contract, but we have stressed that time is of the essence. Things need to move fast,” said Moroe.
England arrive in the country later this week and Smith, should he agree terms with CSA will have to appoint a head coach for the Proteas, and bring a panel of selectors together to pick the squad.
Nenzani and Faul both emphasised the importance of rebuilding CSA’s relationship with the players union, the SA Cricketers Association. “The players are a very important stakeholder,” said Nenzani. “We have to normalise our relationship at that level, so that we have a common way of doing things going forward. Engagement with SACA has to be dealt with as a matter of urgency. It is important that CSA and SACA get to a point where all the issues that are vexatious with them, is handled in a manner that is conclusive.”