Cricket SA’s new full-time chief admits to ‘challenges’

Thabang Moroe was officially unveiled as Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) new full-time chief executive on Tuesday after deputising for almost nine months following Haroon Lorgat’s resignation.

But his tenure has been controversial already, with a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the the governing body and its professional players being delayed by months and, more importantly, the continued uncertainty over the proposed T20 League.

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That venture has already cost CSA over R 220 million and now there’s the threat of litigation from previous franchise owners.

Moroe fronted up to the media.

Here’s what emerged.

The MOU is close to being signed

We were actually hoping to sign on Monday. I just actually need to follow up with the parties involved. We’ve agreed to all the principles such as the revenue-sharing model. It’s just a bit of semantics we’re still not agreeing on. So it’s just about cleaning up the wording of the document and then signing. (The South African Cricketers Association CEO) Tony Irish can also attest to the fact that we’re all very happy with the process. It was a rigorous process but we found one another.

CSA ‘had’ to change the model of the T20 Global League, despite it leaving the previous owners very unhappy

It’s been a very difficult process. My mandate was to revive the league in its purest form, meaning the original. But that proved too difficult, so I went back the board to ask permission to explore other models. That’s where we reached the equity model with SuperSport.

We’ve communicated in writing with the owners but it’s been a challenge. We predominantly want a date where we can all sit together but these parties are spread all around the world. Meeting points have been difficult.

Trust issues definitely exist between CSA and the owners

You can pick that up with the communication the owners have sent out the past few weeks. The only way we’re going to bridge that gap is by sitting down face-to-face. We admit that we also haven’t availed ourselves to them but we’ve had pressing issues such as the MOU and the model for the T20. Our stance is pretty clear, we want to build this league up and then sell equity. We want to be comfortable with what it’s going to cost to run a team in South Africa.

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