Cricket South Africa and players’ union smoke the peace pipe

08 February 2020 - 12:17 By KHANYISO TSHWAKU
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Saca chief executive officer Andrew Breetzke.
Saca chief executive officer Andrew Breetzke.
Image: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images

Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the South African Cricketers' Association (Saca) are well on their way to mending fences after CSA’s members' council agreed to rescind their decision to disband the six franchises.

CSA’s member’s council and the board took a decision last year to end franchise cricket at the end of the 2019-20 season to revert to the 11-team affiliate structure with the addition of two new teams.

This had Saca up in arms to a point where they took CSA to court in an attempt to get clarity in terms of the restructuring of the domestic game.

With the member’s council agreeing last week to scrap the restructuring, Saca have in turn dropped the court action they’d set in motion against CSA.

The upshot of these decisions means that CSA and Saca have now agreed to a road map consultation process with regard to the review and possible restructure of domestic cricket in SA.

In a statement, Saca said the road map agreement complies with their requirement to be consulted as required by the Recognition and Procedural Agreement of July 2018, which remains valid, binding and enforceable between the two bodies.

Saca CEO Andrew Breetzke said it’s important for CSA and Saca to find a workable middle ground for the betterment of the players.

“The relationship between Saca and CSA has been characterised by open hostility over the past 12 months,” Breetzke said.

“The rescinding of the members' council decision and subsequent settlement of the court application will enable Saca to engage with CSA in a constructive manner on the many challenges currently facing cricket in SA.

“Players remain the key stakeholder in the game, and it will be imperative that their interests are protected when dealing with these challenges.”

CSA’s acting CEO Jacques Faul said it was important that all bodies had equal participation from a consultation perspective.

“This confirms that we have got our partnership relationship with Saca back on track and it will give everybody, especially our players, certainty and security on the road ahead. As we all know, our players are our biggest asset and it is important that they are consulted when their careers are affected,” Faul said.


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