Players’ union deeply troubled by chaos at Cricket South Africa

South Africa
Proteas

South Africa’s professional cricketers’ union have called on the country’s national cricket board to pull themselves together to secure the future of the game.

The South Africa Cricketers’ Association (SACA) have called on former Cricket South Africa President Chris Nenzani to explain his decision to step down just three weeks from the end of his tenure.

Nenzani came under fire for his handling of the suspension of CEO Thabang Moroe and drew criticism from a group of former Proteas players of colour for failing to address their concerns.

Titans and Northerns Cricket CEO Jacques Faul also terminated his secondment after Nenzani resigned.

Cricket South Africa have appointed vice president Beresford Williams as acting president and have promoted Chief Commercial Officer Kugandrie Govender to the role of acting CEO.

The governing body are yet to finalise and get government approval for the upcoming domestic cricket season and will only be able to invite bilateral tours if an international travel ban is lifted.

These factors have combined to create an uncertain future for many Proteas and franchise cricketers, which SACA noted.

“SACA has engaged directly with players over the past few weeks, and there is a growing realisation amongst players that their careers as professional cricketers are being threatened by the very organisation that should be nurturing them,” a SACA statement read.

Cricket South Africa face the considerable challenges of the pandemic alongside being tasked with healing the racial divide in the game which has been thrust into the limelight by Lungi Ngidi’s stance on Black Lives Matter.

SACA have urged the board to show leadership in addressing systemic racism in South African cricket.

Alongside these issues, there are allegations of widespread abuse of finances at Cricket South Africa that relate to the suspension of Moroe last October.

SACA add: “CSA must show leadership in dealing with the various crises facing the game; the transformation and discrimination crisis that has come to the fore over the past two months; the resumption of domestic and international cricket under COVID-19; the finalisation of the disciplinary matter of the suspended CEO; the forensic investigation; and the forecast deficit which has the potential to financially cripple the game.”

Cricket South Africa are set to stage an AGM next month where the future of the board should be determined.

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