Cobras players bare their fangs at coach Adams

29 September 2016 - 09:28 By TELFORD VICE

The standoff between Cobras players and their coach Paul Adams leapt the boundary yesterday when the SA Cricketers' Association took the matter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. The move is the latest twist in a saga that has been brewing for months and came to a head two weeks ago when it emerged that 10 of the franchise's 17 contracted players had filed a formal grievance against Adams.Saca said yesterday there was "a breakdown in the relationship between the majority of the Cobras players and the head coach."It involves a fundamental loss of confidence by the players in the coach's ability to lead the coaching of the team arising from his inability to create an effective team culture, poor communication and man-management skills, lack of tactical and technical knowledge and disorganisation in running proper practice and training sessions," it said.Central to the drama is a report by former South African team director Paddy Upton, who was appointed as a mediator by an independent panel formed by the board of Western Cape Cricket to investigate the players' claims."Paddy's report is an internal document and hasn't been made available to the media at this stage," said Saca CE Tony Irish.He said Upton had outlined three potential scenarios."The first was to continue with the coach with no changes."The second was to continue with the coach with an additional support structure around him."The third was for him to stand down as head coach and be redeployed elsewhere in Western Province cricket."Paddy clearly recommended that the parties should agree to the third scenario."But, after studying Upton's report, WCC decided to retain Adams - who has been offered a new two-year contract that, reportedly, remains unsigned.It appears WCC didn't follow Upton's advice.WCC said last Tuesday: "The board found material deficiencies in Upton's report as he did not fully discharge the mandate given to him to speak to all the contracted players."Irish took issue with that view: "As a mediator his role was to understand the grievance and assist in resolving it."He didn't need to interview every single player to do this and he was specifically mandated to use whatever approach he considered appropriate."A hearing will be held within 30 days of the CCMA serving papers on WCC. - TMG Sport..

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