Cricket SA interim board ‘astonished and disappointed’

The Interim Board of Cricket South Africa said on Thursday they were “astonished and disappointed” that the majority of the Members’ Council had made a last-minute about-turn in rejecting the principle of a majority independent board.

“We commend those on the Members’ Council who were forward-thinking enough to vote in favour of a majority independent board,” the Board said in a statement.

“History has proven that the current governance structure within cricket is untenable and has been the cause of past maladministration and a lack of accountability.”

This follows a discussion between the Board and the Members Council on Wednesday regarding the amendment of CSA’s Memorandum of Incorporation and also the Council’s refusal to accept the “well-entrenched corporate governance principle of a majority independent board.”

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The Board said they had been in discussion with the sports minister Nathi Mthethwa about implementing the findings of the 2013 Nicholson Report and ensuring that a majority independent board served cricket in South Africa.

This meant an independent chair and a separation between the position of president of the Members’ Council and board chair.

There could be no compromise or negotiation on these two “fundamental principles”, the Board said, specifically given the nine years of inaction since the Nicholson Report.

In November 2020, the Members’ Council appointed the Board and accepted the mandate provided by Mthethwa.

In addition, said the Board on Thursday, in three-a-side meetings between the Board and the Members’ Council, the principle of majority independence and separation of the chair and president was accepted.

“The Board insisted the federation could not continue with the same governance structure and expect a different outcome as regards good corporate governance,” commented the Chair of the Board, Dr Stavros Nicolaou.

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“A majority independent Board is a widely-held corporate governance principle both in South Africa and internationally,” said Nicolaou.

“That the Members’ Council has reneged and now refuses to accept this principle is short-sighted and has yet again brought cricket administration to the brink of crisis.

“The brinkmanship – which has become all too familiar – displayed by certain members of the Members’ Council, cannot be tolerated for much longer by the cricket-loving public.”

The Board said they had written to the acting president of the Members’ Council, Rihan Richards, to ascertain the voting patterns of individual affiliate members.

The Board had also been speaking directly to the presidents of affiliate unions in an attempt to further clarify its position and what was at stake for the future of cricket.

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