Jacques Faul (CSA Acting CEO) and Dave Richardson (former CEO of the International Cricket Council) during the CSA media briefing at Inter-Continental Hotel, OR Tambo International Airport on December 07, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Johan Rynners/Gallo Images)
The heat in terms of having their decision-making furiously examined by the public is currently on the Proteas management, but the Cricket South Africa (CSA) suits will be back in the spotlight later this month when they have to consider the report on the domestic structure of the game.
While the board has managed to repel all the many calls for them to stand down after their leadership sent South African cricket plummeting to the brink of the abyss, the focus should now be on the 14-strong Members Council, made up of the provincial presidents.
It is they who will consider the report compiled by former International Cricket Council chief executive Dave Richardson into the structure of the domestic game.
He will present the findings of his committee on January 25.
Only the Members Council can reverse the decision to go to a 12- team structure at the pinnacle of the domestic game, and that is also at the heart of the dispute with the South African Cricketers’ Association, the players’ union.
If that imbroglio can be resolved, it will at least kill what could be a highly expensive and damaging court case for CSA.
Interim CSA chief executive Jacques Faul is aware that there is impatience for him to bring rapid change and immediately reverse
all the harmful decisions made by Thabang Moroe, but that is not the nature of his role and he has to be mindful of not doing anything that would make life more difficult for whoever is appointed as the permanent CEO.
“I have to be careful not to send us in a direction that I can’t steer. So my focus is on making sure our structure follows our strategy. It’s a clean-up job really and I need to get the operations side of things and our relationships with all our important stakeholders – sponsors, players and the media – sound,” Faul told The Citizen.
The Members Council is also the only body that can dissolve the board so the broom might only sweep totally clean once the provinces elect new presidents who would then make up the new Members Council.
For more sport your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
