Cricket SA’s checks and balances under fire after T20 fiasco

Cricket South Africa’s corporate governance is under fire once again after admitting part of its decision to postpone the T20 Global League was due to its board being kept in the dark over certain aspects pertaining to the organisation of the tournament.

Thabang Moroe, the governing body’s acting chief executive, certainly suggested transparency – especially from his predecessor Haroon Lorgat – has been missing.

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“No, the board wasn’t fully appraised (with information on how the tournament was being organised),” he said on Tuesday after CSA confirmed the tournament will now only be launched in November 2018.

The T20GL has been dogged by controversy since it concluded its bidding process for team owners in April.

Reports have been rife over the secrecy of certain franchise agreements and fees as well as the failure of the tournament to conclude a broadcasting rights deal.

CSA last week also said a net loss in excess of R340 million just to get the competition up and running would lead to immense financial pressure.

However, CSA’s sudden concern over the lack of full disclosure from Lorgat and co reflects badly on its own checks and balances.

In a media statement sent out on July 21, the federation stated: “A comprehensive update on the progress made to establish the T20 Global League was presented to the board. The board expressed satisfaction with the progress made to date.”

What changed in the next few months?

“The board takes full responsibility in terms of everything that’s happened,” said Moroe.

“You possibly could say that (that is was a failure of CSA’s governance). The board took its trust and placed it in the hands of a few individuals. Obviously not all the information that the board needed to have in order to be comfortable enough to continue with this league was forthcoming. Some of it is still not forthcoming.

“As far as reputational damage is concerned, I think it’s better for the board to act than not to act when they see things going wrong.”

Moroe didn’t rule the possibility of an enquiry into Lorgat’s conduct, who quit two weeks ago and is currently negotiating a compensation package.

“Chances are (an investigation) may (affect his compensation). But I won’t be able to answer for my board,” he said.

No contracts have been affected or cancelled but CSA “still need to sit down with all those players and coaches to discuss the way forward”.

Team owners’ reactions to the postponement were “mixed”.

The delay means there’s now a six week gap in the domestic calendar, which could be filled by moving April’s domestic T20 competition forward.