CSA hint at interim deal with SACA

Having left matters lamentably late‚ Cricket South Africa (CSA) are hinting that an interim agreement with the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) may be needed to save the professional game from collapse in this country.

The current memorandum of understanding (MOU) between CSA and SACA expires at the end of the month — seven working days including Thursday.

No replacement has been agreed‚ and without a valid MOU most of the country’s national and franchise players would be unemployed.

That would leave them free to strike deals with other organisations‚ particularly T20 circuses around the world‚ that could see them lost to cricket in South Africa.

SACA have complained that CSA have delayed negotiations for a new agreement‚ but in a release on Wednesday the board said it had “outlined plans to conclude a new MOU with SACA as a matter of urgency”.  

The release includes a get-out-of-trouble clause: “In the event of negotiations concerning the new MOU not being completed by April 30 CSA has indicated its willingness to extend the existing contracts for a further period with the intention of having the new agreement in place by July this year.”

Thabang Moroe‚ CSA’s acting chief executive‚ who in December said that‚ “Ultimately the people who make money for cricket is CSA‚ it’s not a union”‚ in what came across as a surprisingly aggressive stance towards CSA’s only revenue-generating assets — the players — seems to have changed his tune. 

“While we will be seeking to clarify our relationship with SACA‚ I would like to stress that there will be no fundamental change in the underlying relationships between CSA and SACA‚” Moroe was quoted as saying in Wednesday’s release.

“It is rather the intention to restructure these relationships that cover the employer/employee relationship‚ the collective bargaining relationship and the commercial relationship so that all of these relationships are regulated under separate agreements.

“In the interim while the new MOU is being negotiated CSA gives an irrevocable undertaking that an interim agreement is being proposed to allay any anxiety on the part of our cricketers concerning their futures.”

The new MOU‚ the release said‚ would “have the scope to include all national‚ franchise‚ senior provincial and women’s cricketers and will be made binding on them in accordance with Section 23 of the Labour Relations Act”.

That agreement would be in force for five years.

SACA chief executive Tony Irish could not immediately be reached for comment.