Board upbeat about achieving transformation numbers
Cricket SA (CSA) has admitted that its efforts to transform the game are faltering. “The very fact that there is a need to set certain targets indicates that the system has not been working optimally to achieve representivity‚” CSA president Chris Nenzani was quoted as saying in a statement issued after the organisation’s annual meeting in Johannesburg on Saturday.
“We remain in dialogue with the [sports] ministry and the Eminent Persons Group [EPG] in order to find common ground and address those areas where we need to improve.
“I am confident that our engagements will bear fruit.”
To help make that happen CSA on Saturday announced “targets [that] require the national team to play an average minimum of 54% black players and an average minimum of 18% black African players over the season”.
That translates into six players of colour in a team‚ two of them black African.
“With the targets being measured over the full season and being cumulative across all three formats, our selectors and team management will have the flexibility to deal with varying circumstances‚” Nenzani was quoted as saying.
In April, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula said CSA would not be allowed to bid to host major international events.
This was because the EPG had reported that cricket’s national teams were 5% short of the 60% target for players of colour CSA had agreed to with the ministry, Mbalula said.
CSA reported a surplus of R107-million on Saturday‚ which they said was “R89-million better than budget”.
Gauteng Cricket Board president Thabang Moroe‚ already a CSA board member‚ was elected vice-president.
WP Cricket Association president Beresford Williams was re-elected to the board, while Faeez Jaffer and Thando Ganda‚ the presidents of the KZN Cricket Union and the Border Cricket Union respectively‚ were elected.
The CSA board is: Non-independent members:
Chris Nenzani‚ Thabang Moroe‚ Thando Ganda‚ Faeez Jaffer‚ Rihan Richards‚ Zola Thamae‚ Beresford Williams.
Independent members: Norman Arendse‚ Mohamad Iqbal Khan‚ Dawn Makhobo‚ Vusi Pikoli‚ Louis von Zeuner.