The captains of the three South Africa squads signed a joint statement expressing concern over the country’s possible exclusion by the ICC due to the governance crisis at Cricket South Africa (CSA).
The three said that if the current impasse is not resolved soon, South Africa may not be able to take part in the ICC T20 World Cup to be held in India in October-November.
“At a time when we should be enthusiastic about the future, we have to be concerned about the future (of the game),” the three wrote.
“The Proteas men’s team has an ICC World T20 event in November. The current state of cricket administration undermines our preparation in this regard. It may even lead to our suspension from this event should the ICC decide to suspend South Africa.”
The impasse between the Members’ Council (MC) of CSA and its Interim Board (IB), which was expected to be resolved at a Special General Meeting (SGM) on Saturday, ended with a secret ballot by the MC that refused to accept long-standing proposals for amendments to its Memorandum of Incorporation (MoI) to allow for a majority independent Board and an independent Chair.
The crisis was exacerbated when, despite an initial ruling that other participants in the virtual meeting on Saturday, including the media, would have only observer status, the chairman allowed the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) acting-chairman Barry Hendricks to address the meeting.
Hendricks advised against accepting the MoI, saying it had to be sanctioned by SASCOC first. He also issued a veiled threat that without this, CSA risked losing its national colours.
