Runouts are expected in cricket probe

The Nicholson inquiry into the cricket scandal may be over this week as quickly as the ODI in Paarl last Wednesday, but the result could take a while longer to come through.

That's because the legal version of the Duckworth-Lewis system needs some time to be unravelled.

Judge Chris Nicholson has been hearing evidence in Pretoria since late last year and will continue to do so this week, ironically, at the home of Blue Bulls rugby. He doesn't expect the oral evidence to last more than a few days before he and his fellow commissioners sit down to weigh it all.

The Minister of Sport, Fikile Mbalula, who appointed the commission, had hoped to have the investigation wrapped up before Christmas but the judge has claimed a few extra overs and now February is, more or less, the new deadline.

"Like Topsy, it has grown too much, with every man and his dog wanting to have a say," according to the judge. "And why not? It's only fair that they should have their say."

The commission was tasked, for those who might have forgotten, with investigating what lies behind an incriminating report of Cricket South Africa's management of the Indian riches that entered the game here with the Indian Premier League in 2009.

Once the last witness has been excused, the judge, who has been doing a huge amount of reading while the rest of us have been loafing, will draw up the report with the help of his commissioners and take it to the minister with their recommendations.

They are, it must be noted, not going to deliver any profound findings; that is not part of their ambit. Nevertheless, any recommendations are likely to identify culprits who have become obvious to anyone who has followed this shady business and read the damning KPMG report into the irregular bonuses paid by CSA chief executive Gerald Majola.

Then it is all up to the minister. Will he have the power to act? Will he have the courage? So far Mbalula has been a huge improvement on his predecessors and the best sports minister since Steve Tshwete, but Cricket SA is a private body and the minister will need to find a mechanism that will stand up in court should Majola and his cronies challenge his decision.

There should be no danger of any government action running foul of the International Cricket Council. Unlike Fifa, which is quick to ban any national body where there is, or even perceived to be, government interference, the ICC is spineless and even allows Sri Lankan cricket to carry on merrily. Despite Sri Lanka Cricket elections last week, the sport is still controlled by the country's government. This is very much part of the problems the island's team faces on the field.

The South African government, fortunately, is not in a position to control sport in a similar way, but Mbalula has been aware all along of the public disgust at Cricket SA's bonuses. That was why he appointed the Nicholson commission in the first place.

The disgust has shown no signs of abating, despite the public's desire to watch the game - as attendances at the recent tests and ODIs make clear.

Cricket SA is still unable to attract credible sponsors, a senior employee recently resigned and there now appears to be some distance between Majola and the national team.

Don't expect any fireworks, then, when Ali Bacher and others deliver their expected testimonies from today. But once the Nicholson report has been handed over, expect some heads to roll.