Cricket SA acting chief Moroe hints at Lorgat role in Global T20 mess

Cricket South Africa's acting chief executive officer Thabang Moroe gave the strongest indication yet that a lack of transparency from former chief executive Haroon Lorgat may have had an impact on the postponement of the T20 Global League.

CSA's board announced on Tuesday afternoon the T20GL‚ which was slated to start on November 3‚ has been put on ice until next year.

Lorgat and CSA parted ways amicably on September 28‚ citing a breakdown in the relationship between the former CEO and the board. Lorgat's phone rang unanswered in an attempt to get comment.

“The board takes full responsibility in terms of what's happened because the board took its trust and placed it in the hands of a few individuals‚ and not all the information the board needed in order for it to be comfortable enough to continue with the league at this stage was forthcoming‚” Moroe said.

“That information wasn't forthcoming and some of it is still not forthcoming. I'm dealing with information that's been available to me for the past week-and-a-half.

“There's still more information that I need in front of me and to give to my board and the team I need to work with so we can come out with all of this information. The board wasn't fully appraised.

“At the top of my head‚ probably all the facts could be out within the next month for the public but that also depends on who gets involved and at what level. But that's a rough estimate from me in terms of how long it should take.

“Our model works but the model within which the T20GL was going to operate needs to have money supporting it and that wasn't going to come from CSA alone. What's changed between Friday and Tuesday are the numbers.”

Moroe also said they were still in contact with Lorgat in terms of shedding more light on the failure of the tournament‚ but also did not rule out the possibility of an investigation.

“Chances are it may happen but I won't be able to answer for the board because I'm acting in his capacity. Chances are it may but I can't confirm that. There is a possibility for investigation but it's still early stages now‚” Moroe said.

Moroe said the contracts that were signed in line with the tournament in terms of players and suppliers would still be honoured.

Moroe added that the organisation was not in a position to lose more money‚ which informed the board's decision to temporarily pull the plug on the tournament.

“If you have a look at where we were or where we are in terms of the budget we'd set aside in terms of operating the league‚ the numbers that were being put in front of us in terms of sponsorship and broadcast deals‚ we were probably going to make losses of about $6-8 million every year for the next five years. This decision was a no-brainer if you look at the numbers‚” Moroe said.

“It's better for the board to act than not to act when they see things going wrong. From a reputation point of view‚ it stands the board in good stead‚ they made a decision and they're sticking by it.

“We're not going to deliver a T20 league that's going to be detrimental for CSA. If we were going to deliver a league that was going to be detrimental to our development mandate‚ it was going to be irresponsible.

“You can't throw money at a problem like this. The best thing to do was to cut the bleeding‚ take stock‚ regain strength and come back a bit better.”