SA Cricketers' Association drags Cricket SA to court

The SA Cricketer’s Association (Saca) has taken Cricket SA to court in an attempt to get clarity on the direction it is taking with the restructuring of the domestic game.

The application‚ which calls on Cricket SA to show cause as to why its decision to restructure domestic cricket should not be reviewed and set aside‚ was filed at the Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday.

Saca president Omphile Ramela said Cricket SA have not made an attempt to address their concerns about the organisation’s financial situation.

Cricket SA announced a restructuring of the domestic game earlier in 2019‚ something Saca said they have not been fully kept abreast of.

The restructuring will see the current six-team franchise system that has been in place since the 2003/04 season being replaced by the old 11-team provincial union system with South-Western Districts being the new team while Limpopo and Mpumalanga will join at a later stage.

The relationship between Cricket SA and Saca has been rocky for some time . The fallout resulted in Saca CEO Tony Irish not being part of a CEO’s meeting that he is normally invited to.

Cricket SA’s head of cricket pathways Corrie van Zyl had said in April  they had consulted Saca about the restructuring process.

However‚ judging from this legal step‚ that does not seem to be the case.

“Saca’s application to court follows numerous‚ unsuccessful attempts by us to get Cricket SA to address our concerns relating to the financial situation in cricket.

“It also follows clear breaches by Cricket SA of Saca/Cricket SA agreements in taking the decision to restructure domestic cricket‚” Ramela said. “The restructuring decision will have serious implications for the players and for the game in SA.

“The lack of proper engagement with Saca before making this decision has left us with no alternative but to approach the court to challenge that decision.”

Irish hoped that this would get Cricket SA to communicate with them effectively.

“It also calls on Cricket SA to deliver to the court‚ and to Saca‚ documents and records which Cricket SA relied upon in making the decision to restructure domestic cricket‚” he said.

“Cricket SA will now need to decide on whether or not to oppose our court application and if it opposes‚ it will need to file answering papers and Saca will have the right to reply to those.

“We expect that the legal process‚ which culminates in the hearing of our application in court‚ will take about three to four months.”

Cricket SA’s media manager Koketso Gaofetoge said the organisation was only focused on the national team’s showing at the World Cup in England.

“Cricket SA is pulling out all the stops in a deliberate attempt to support the Proteas.

“Any other matters that could distract Cricket SA from its course without merit would be considered incidental‚” Gaofetoge said.