Cricket bosses 'may have caused' Proteas' poor World Cup showing

26 July 2015 - 02:00 By TELFORD VICE

A member of Cricket SA's (CSA) transformation committee has contradicted in parliament the board's insistence that they didn't interfere in selection for the World Cup semifinal by sending South African team management a message to pick more players of colour. And a psychologist says festering unhappiness with administrators could explain the Proteas losing the one-day series and being dominated for much of the first test in Bangladesh.The minutes of a June 2 meeting between the portfolio committee for sport and recreation and an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) record that DA MP Solly Malatsi asked the group's Willie Basson, who sits on CSA's transformation committee, for "his views on the pace of transformation or lack thereof in [cricket], especially regarding the composition of the ... team that had competed in the recent ... World Cup".story_article_left1According to the minutes, Basson "said there had been mistakes on the side of cricket's administration, where it had sent a note to the team management on the eve of the semifinal, reminding them about [CSA's] policy on demographic representation. That had been a costly mistake because the reminder should have been drilled into the management team during the preparations for the World Cup."New Zealand won the semifinal by four wickets with a ball to spare on March 24.Four days earlier, the Proteas had thumped Sri Lanka by nine wickets in their quarterfinal.The only change for the semifinal was the inclusion of fast-medium bowler Vernon Philander at the expense of fellow fast bowler Kyle Abbott.Philander struggled with a hamstring injury for much of the tournament and had bowled 20.3 out of a possible 70 overs before the semifinal - in which he left the field after sending down eight of his 10 overs.Abbott was the Proteas' leading bowler at the World Cup in terms of average, economy rate and strike rate.Philander's credibility has been unfairly and cynically damaged by the suspicion - created solely by his forced selection for the semifinal - that he is a quota player.story_article_right2CSA's initial denial of interference was published on March 31. But, on April 18, under mounting pressure, they admitted chief executive Haroon Lorgat had been "consulted" about the make-up of the team by then selection convenor Andrew Hudson and coach Russell Domingo.Two weeks before the EPG meeting, CSA met the committee in parliament and dismissed the selection controversy as "mischief media reports [that] caused regrettable harm".But, said psychologist Mike McInerney, the consequences could be serious. "The chances of what happened at the World Cup affecting the players are very high in terms of the stability of the system and the trust players have in that system."Basson and CSA did not respond to e-mailed requests for comment.sports@timesmedia.co.za..

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