SACA expose CSA suits’ suspicious suspension

“We think it’s highly unlikely that Thabang Moroe would not have been aware of this ongoing issue. He was undoubtedly aware of payment obligations as he had signed the agreement.” Tony Irish

TELFORD VICE in Cape Town

THE South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) say Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive Thabang Moroe was central to the agreement allowing the use of the players’ commercial rights for last year’s inaugural Mzansi Super League (MSL).

So why did CSA say in a release on Wednesday, “The board and management [of CSA] has recently become aware of an unfortunate situation involving players and player contracts”?

That was CSA’s explanation for Tuesday’s news, broken by TMG Digital, that interim director of cricket Corrie van Zyl, sponsor and sales head Clive Eksteen and chief operating officer Naasei Appiah had been suspended over their actions around the commercial rights deal and that they were investigating the situation.

Last Wednesday SACA lodged a formal dispute because they had yet to be paid the agreed contract fee of R2.4-million.

A SACA release on Thursday blew the lid off the mystery that surrounds the saga, and called for an independent investigation into the damaging episode.

The release says the contract was signed by SACA chief executive Tony Irish as well as Moroe.

“We are very surprised that Naasei Appiah, Corrie van Zyl and Clive Eksteen have been suspended in relation to allegations surrounding CSA’s non-compliance with the 2018 MSL commercial agreement,” Irish was quoted as saying.

“SACA didn’t deal with Appiah on this issue and in its dealings with Van Zyl and Eksteen over many months they both expressed a strong desire to resolve the payment issue, but it eventually became clear that higher approval to do so was necessary.

“We think it’s highly unlikely that [Moroe] would not have been aware of this ongoing issue. He was undoubtedly aware of payment obligations as he had signed the agreement.”

SACA, the release said, tried three times in four days earlier this month to resolve the issue — all without success, and despite Eksteen having “indicated that CSA was now prepared to resolve the matter”. 

On Tuesday, only 10 days before this year’s MSL is set to start, the issue was finally put to bed and an arrangement made to use the rights to market the second edition of the tournament.

“SACA believes that the 2018 MSL dispute and the signature of the 2019 MSL commercial agreement were only resolved because of the impending player commercial activations scheduled to take place on 30 October 2019,” Irish was quoted as saying.

“In the absence of an agreement CSA would not have had the rights to use the players in the activations.”

Much of the rest of the release details SACA’s struggle to be treated with due respect by CSA, which includes — the player body says — breaches of the legally binding memorandum of understanding between the organisations.

“SACA also believes that CSA’s persistent refusal to comply with the 2018 MSL agreement for such a long period was simply part of a much wider, systematic attempt to marginalise SACA and the role that it plays in protecting the collective interests of the players,” Irish was quoted as saying.

“SACA is a fully recognised players association representing every professional cricketer in South Africa and the players trust holds all of the players commercial rights.

“It is not a ‘player intermediary’ as suggested by CSA.” 

That dismissive phrase was how CSA described SACA in their release on Tuesday.

SACA’s litany of CSA’s failings includes the signing the current MOU three months after the previous agreement expired as well as several instances of the board ignoring serious questions on challenges the game faces that could have significant negative implications for the players.

That led SACA to launch a high court action in May over a plan to restructure the domestic system that could put 70 players out of work.

“CSA has consistently failed to comply with the time periods prescribed by the rules of court relating to the filing of documents in this application and it has yet to file any answering papers,” SACA’s release said.

They claim they have been barred, since April, from meetings of CSA’s finance and commercial, chief executives’ and cricket sub-committees.

“CSA is in breach of its own terms of reference in relation to some of these sub-committees, which provide for SACA’s attendance,” the release said.

Plans to design a “roadmap” to “resolve the issues related to the domestic restructure and to discuss both the CSA/SACA relationship and SACA’s concerns relating to CSA’s financial situation”, which included an external financial review, was agreed on August 24.

And that’s the last SACA say the have heard from CSA on those matters.

“SACA believes that the matters that are set out above are as important as the MSL commercial agreement issue, if not more so, in order to protect both player interests and the interests of the game,” Irish was quoted as saying.

“SACA accordingly calls upon CSA not only to ensure that its investigation into this MSL issue is conducted by an independent person, or organisation, but also that an independent investigation is conducted into these related matters.”

More than an hour-and-a-half after being asked for comment, CSA had yet to respond.

First published by TMG Digital.

CSA say SACA saga prompted suits’ suspension

History of sidelining those outside dominant cabal could be repeating itself.

TELFORD VICE in Cape Town

CRICKET South Africa (CSA) say the latest impasse in their fractious relationship with the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) is why they suspended three senior staff members.

But insiders regard that explanation with suspicion. Asked whether a rat should be smelled, one well-placed source said the reporter had “an immaculate sense of smell”.

TMG Digital broke the news on Tuesday that interim director of cricket Corrie van Zyl, sponsor and sales head Clive Eksteen and chief operating officer Naasei Appiah had been removed from their positions.

Van Zyl confirmed that as fact but declined to comment further. Eksteen and Appiah did not respond meaningfully.

A CSA release on Wednesday said the organisation had “recently become aware of an unfortunate situation involving players and player contracts, through player intermediary [SACA] in which speculation and indeed allegations of dereliction were levelled against CSA, following alleged non-payment of player fees, stemming from the Mzansi Super League [MSL] arrangement, in 2018”.

SACA lodged a formal dispute last Wednesday over the failure by CSA to pay R2.4-million into their players’ trust — the terms of the contract the player body signed with CSA for the use of their commercial rights for the MSL.

“CSA is in the process of investigating this matter to determine the extent to which certain CSA employees were or were not derelict in fulfilling their duties,” the release said.

“This is in line with the effort of ensuring that the principle of accountability is applied equally, fairly and without fear or favour throughout the organisation. 

“Whilst the investigation of this matter is in progress employees who are alleged to have been involved in this matter have been placed on precautionary suspension until the investigation is completed, following which disciplinary action could be instituted against the affected employees.”

The move has taken significant experience out of CSA’s knowledge bank at a time when the organisation can least afford it.

Van Zyl and Eksteen played for South Africa, and Van Zyl coached the national men’s team before being appointed CSA’s general manager for cricket in December 2011. Appiah arrived at CSA in October 2010 as chief financial officer.

Beleaguered by legal battles on three fronts, awash with interim appointments, and embroiled in a transformation squabble over the Cobras’ decision to field only two black Africans — instead of the target of three — in their four-day match against the Warriors at Newlands this week, CSA can ill afford another scandal.

That’s especially true with the national men’s Test team still under the cloud of their worst performance in a series in 83 years.

Faf du Plessis side were beaten 3-0 in India, the last two losses suffered by an innings.

The last time South Africa were as heavily defeated was by Australia in March 1936.

Eksteen, who joined CSA in October 2015 as their commercial manager, has been in trouble with his bosses before.

During the St George’s Park Test in March last photographs of him posing with fans trying to antagonise David Warner by wearing Sonny Bill Williams face masks emerged on social media.

Before she was involved with Warner, the Australian’s wife, the then Candice Falzon, had a brief but well publicised liaison with All Blacks star Williams.

That saga, which prompted the resignation of then communications head Altaaf Kazi, who was also in the photograph, was seen as part of an effort to rid CSA of figures not in the dominant cabal.

The same scenario unfolded in September 2017, when Haroon Lorgat left his position as chief executive over what CSA said was his poor handling of arrangements for the T20 Global League, which became the MSL.    

The current controversy is laced with similar undertones, with figures within the game fearing the drama is an attempt to clear the decks of opposition to the powers that be.

Even so, the fate of Van Zyl and Appiah is surprising.

Van Zyl has seemed central to powerful chief executive Thabang Moroe’s brave new direction for CSA, while Appiah is a long-time Moroe ally. But insiders say Moroe and Appiah had a major fallout about two months ago.

SACA, the players’ trade union, are in the throes of a high court action against CSA for plans to restructure the domestic system than could see 70 players lose their jobs, and will no doubt have taken note of being downgraded in Wednesday’s release to a mere “player intermediary”. 

The Western Province Cricket Association are also in CSA’s queue of court cases, having sought an interdict against the latter for their decision to put the province’s board under administration.

At some point, surely, CSA will be fighting more fires than they could possibly put out. 

First published by TMG Digital.

CSA suspend senior suits

“With Corrie [van Zyl] and Clive [Eksteen] gone they really don’t have cricket expertise in their senior management ranks.” – a source on CSA’s shock move

TELFORD VICE in Cape Town

THREE of Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) most senior staff have been suspended, Bulletproof Truth has learnt.

Interim director of cricket Corrie van Zyl, sponsor and sales head Clive Eksteen and chief operating officer Naasei Appiah have all been removed from their positions.

That the action was taken against them was confirmed, off the record, by a high-ranking senior official. Staff were informed at a meeting.

Asked why the decisions were taken, CSA spokesperson Thami Mthembu said, “CSA will issue a statement tomorrow morning.”

Van Zyl declined to comment, while Appiah and Eksteen did not respond meaningfully to requests for comment.

Several sources contacted didn’t know the reasons for the action, although the fallout from the South African Cricketers’ Association’s formal dispute with CSA over R2.4-million still owed the players from last year’s Mzansi Super League has been mooted as an explanation. 

“With Corrie and Clive gone they really don’t have cricket expertise in their senior management ranks,” a source with knowledge of the situation said.

Eksteen has been in trouble with his bosses before, notably during the St George’s Park Test in March last year when he was photographed with fans trying to antagonise David Warner by wearing Sonny Bill Williams face masks.

Before she was involved with Warner, his wife, the then Candice Falzon, had a brief but well publicised affair with Williams.

 The fate of Van Zyl and Appiah is more surprising. Van Zyl has seemed central to powerful chief executive Thabang Moroe’s brave new direction for CSA, while Appiah is a long-term ally of Moroe.

But insiders say Moroe and Appiah had a major fallout about two months ago, which could be why Appiah has lost Moroe’s support.

CSA, beleaguered by legal battles on three fronts and strewn with interim appointments, can ill afford another scandal — especially with the national men’s Test team still under a cloud of their worst series in 83 years.

Faf du Plessis side were beaten 3-0 in India, the last two losses suffered by an innings.

The last time South Africa were as heavily defeated was by Australia in March 1936.

First published by TMG Digital.

Work for SA batting coach

“Having spent 25 years on the pitch as a player I intend to spend the next 25 tapping and grooming talent on the cricket field.” – interim South Africa batting coach Amol Muzumdar

TELFORD VICE in London

YOU might wonder whether Amol Muzumdar agreed to be South Africa’s men’s Test team’s interim batting coach before Monday — when he gained an inkling into the size of the job ahead of him.

South Africa A were put in to bat by their India counterparts in their four-day match in Thiruvananthapuram, and dismissed for 164 in 51.5 overs.

Why is that Muzumdar’s problem?

Because five players who were part of that shaky batting display are also in the squad for the three Tests South Africa will play in India next month, when Muzumdar will be part of the coaching contingent.

Two of those players — Aiden Markram and Zubayr Hamza — are likely to be in the top six.

Another two — Senuran Muthusamy and Dane Piedt — have scored eight centuries and 29 half-centuries between them at first-class level.

That’s why Monday’s mess is Muzumdar’s problem.

To him falls the responsibility of making those players, and the rest of South Africa’s batters, straighten up and fly right if the series isn’t to echo the disastrous 2016 tour there, when India won 3-0.

“Amol is a perfect fit for us,” a Cricket South Africa release on Monday quoted acting director of cricket Corrie van Zyl as saying.

“He brings an intimate knowledge of Indian playing conditions and the challenges our batsmen are likely to face.

“He also assisted us at the spin bowling camp we held recently in India and thus has already built up a good working relationship with Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma and Zubayr Hamza.”

Muzumdar himself talked a good game, according to the release: “Cricket has always been and will continue to be my calling.

“Having spent 25 years on the pitch as a player I intend to spend the next 25 tapping and grooming talent on the cricket field.”

Muzumdar, 44, played 171 first-class matches — 103 of them for Mumbai — between February 1994 and November 2013.

He scored 11 167 runs at an average of 48.13 with 30 centuries and 60 half-centuries.

As a coach he has worked with India’s under-19 and under-23 sides and with the Netherlands’ senior team.

And it’s as a coach that he matters for a South Africa team in need of guidance in the wake of a poor World Cup.

Markram was caught behind for a fourth-ball duck on Monday, with Hamza lasting 30 balls for his 13.

It gets better from there, what with Muthusamy staying alive for 48 deliveries before being run out for 12.

Piedt clipped his 33 off 45, and hitting six fours, and Ngidi bumped his average up to 5.14 by scoring 15.

But Muzumdar’s work will be judged on how players further up the order than Muthusamy, Piedt and Ngidi get on.

He has a plenty of work to do on that score, but he will know that a little improvement — particularly in Indian conditions — will go a long way. 

First published by TMG Digital.

Ontong sole survivor of Gibson era

TELFORD VICE in London

JUSTIN Ontong will be the sole survivor of South Africa’s men’s team’s previous coaching staff in India in September and October.

For now, Ontong is still the fielding coach — as he was during South Africa’s worst ever World Cup campaign, in England from May to July, when they won only three of their eight completed games and were the first of the 10 competing teams to be eliminated from the running for the semi-finals. 

That brought the end of Ottis Gibson’s tenure as head coach, along with that of batting coach Dale Benkenstein and spin bowling consultant Claude Henderson. 

Enoch Nkwe has been named team director for the three T20s and as many Tests South Africa will play in India.

A Cricket South Africa (CSA) release on Thursday said Lance Klusener would serve as batting coach for the T20s — but did not fill the vacancy for the Tests — and that Vincent Barnes would be the bowling coach.

All of the appointments are for the India tour only.

“[Klusener’s] record as one of the best allrounders in the world, particularly in white-ball cricket, during his playing career speaks for itself, and he also has extensive coaching experience both at franchise and international level,” the release quoted acting director of cricket Corrie van Zyl as saying.

“[Barnes] also has extensive coaching experience at international level and his knowledge of playing conditions in India will make his contribution invaluable.”

As for the gaping hole among the tracksuits: “Enoch is targeting a batting coach who has extensive knowledge of Indian conditions for the Test series and we will be in a position to announce this successful candidate shortly.”

Klusener, the Dolphins head coach from 2012 to 2016, turned down an offer turned down an offer to be Bangladesh’s bowling coach in 2010. He was Zimbabwe’s batting coach in 2016.

Barnes, South Africa’s fulltime bowling coach from 2003 to 2011, is currently in charge of bowling at CSA’s high performance centre.

First published by TMG Digital.

Has cricket reached peak T20?

Dale Steyn should have been packing for Glasgow to play in the inaugural Euro T20 Slam. Instead he is fishing for golden dorado in the rivers of Bolivia.

TELFORD VICE in London

THE golden dorado is a magnificently bellied fish armed with a pronounced underbite on a face so fierce only a mother could love it. But it is indeed golden; from a deeply burnished tail to a massive gilt head, which frames a mouth snaggled with mean looking teeth.

If Tutankhamun’s tomb had included a fishtank amid all that other gold, it would have been stocked with these denizens, which are also known as river tigers or jaw characins, and, in Latin, Salminus brasiliensis. The biggest specimen yet measured was 1.3 metres long and weighed 34 kilogrammes.

Dale Steyn doesn’t want for records, but he has the chance to break that one in the coming days.

Steyn should have been packing for Scotland, where he was due to play for the Glasgow Giants in the inaugural Euro T20 Slam. Instead he is fishing for golden dorado in the rivers of Bolivia, where he has Quinton de Kock for company.

Sixteen other players besides Steyn who are or were South Africans were on the rosters of the six teams in a tournament that was to have been staged in Malahide — 18 kilometres north-east of Dublin — Edinburgh and Amstelveen, in Amsterdam, from August 30 to September 22. Lance Klusener and Herschelle Gibbs were to have coached the Giants and the Rotterdam Rhinos.

But, after days of speculation that something was up, the plug was pulled on the tournament on Wednesday because, organisers Bombay Sports Limited (BSL) and Woods Entertainment said in a statement, “funding partners and franchise owners of this exciting new T20 tournament have reluctantly come to the decision that staging of the event will not be possible in 2019”.

BSL also own the Global T20 Canada, where players refused to take the field on August 7 because they hadn’t been fully paid. Some who appeared in last year’s event are still waiting for their money.

The European league’s failure to launch is bad luck for Steyn, and even more so for those who were also signed but are in less demand — Robbie Frylinck, Corbin Bosch and Jon-Jon Smuts, for instance — and who probably can’t afford to make themselves feel better by going fishing in Bolivia.

Nevermind. Currently 39 men’s and women’s leagues are played in 22 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and East Asia Pacific. Eighteen of them are franchise competitions.

In February 2016 the Gemini Arabians, captained by Virender Sehwag, beat Brian Lara’s Leo Lions in the final of the Masters Champions League, which was contested in Dubai and Sharjah by six squads of 15 players each, all of them former internationals. Jacques Kallis led the Libra Legends, Graeme Smith the Virgo Super Kings.

So recent events in Europe and Canada will make people wonder if the T in T20 stands for tipping point. Has world franchise cricket reached peak T20? 

It’s an unavoidable question in South Africa, where the messy in-house politics around the stillborn T20 Global League has become the exponentially bigger mess that is the bottomless pit of debt called the Mzansi Super League (MSL), a shining example of what happens when ego and vanity usurp common sense, nevermind sound business practice.

The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) says, as part of their legal challenge to Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) proposed domestic restructuring plan, which could lead to 70 jobs being lost, that the money the MSL is bleeding hasn’t been factored into the R654-million CSA project they will lose in the four-year rights cycle that ends in 2022.

SACA estimate the MSL losses, added to the declining value of “per match” overseas broadcast revenues, will put the financial damage to cricket in South Africa by 2022 at close to R1-billion.

That sounds like a billion reasons to ditch the MSL, but it is set to be patched up and shoved back out there in November and December for its second edition.

T20 has carved its niché in the world game with astonishing speed, helped by the enthusiasm for the product of administrators who probably have a better understanding of exchange rates than they do of the importance of a bowler’s economy rate. 

But, like every avenue of every sport, its credibility is dependent on the quality of player it attracts. And Steyn’s recent experience is worryingly instructive.

CSA acting director of cricket Corrie van Zyl told Sport24 that Steyn was not “medically ready” to play three T20s in India next month in the wake of the shoulder injury that forced him out of the World Cup.

When, last Tuesday, Steyn was left out of South Africa’s squad to play three T20s in India next month he grumbled on social media that CSA “obviously lost my number in the reshuffling of coaching staff”.

He wasn’t moaning about not being picked. He was unhappy about, apparently, not being told that he wouldn’t be picked. That’s no way to treat a senior player who has been loyal to the national cause when he could easily have gone the Kolpak route or become a T20 franchise mercenary.

South Africa’s T20s in India will be played from September 15 to 22, the last of them on the same day as the final of the Euro T20 Slam — which was to have featured Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dwaine Pretorius and Heinrich Klaasen along with Steyn and Smuts.

All of those players could be part of the 2020 T20 World Cup mix, and Pretorius, Shamsi and Smuts are in the squad for India. Will they stick around if they aren’t regarded with due respect?    

Van Zyl told Times Select on Thursday that Steyn had not been issued with a no-objection certificate (NOC) to play in Europe, and Steyn’s agent, Dave Rundle, confirmed that the fast bowler had been waiting for his NOC, which he would have needed to turn out for Glasgow.

But not if he retired from South African cricket. And he’s clearly heading that way, having called time on his Test career.

So, careful CSA. The players you need more than anything know there are plenty more fish in the T20 sea.

First published by Times SELECT

Domingo to head up Bangladesh’s burgeoning boerewors brigade

“There are many names of coaches that spring to mind including Duncan Fletcher, Graham Ford, Mickey Arthur and Adrian Birrell.” – Corrie van Zyl lists some of the coaches lost to the game in South Africa. 

TELFORD VICE in London

BANGLADESH’S burgeoning boerewors brigade gained another member on Saturday when Russell Domingo was appointed head coach of the improving Asians’ men’s team.

Many will see his success as another nail hammered into the coffin of an ailing game in South Africa.  

Domingo, a former South Africa assistant and head coach who is currently in charge of the A side, will join fellow South Africans Neil McKenzie and Charl Langeveldt — Bangladesh’s batting and bowling coaches — in Dhaka.

All three were in South Africa’s dressingroom during Domingo’s tenure as head coach, which ran from 2013 to 2017.

“We have been very impressed with his passion and coaching philosophy,” Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan was quoted as saying in a release.

“He has a clear idea of what is required to take the team forward.”

South Africa and Bangladesh had identical records at this year’s World Cup: three wins from eight completed games.

But the Bangladeshis’ successes — over South Africa, West Indies and Afghanistan — were signs of the gathering strength of their team, and the good work done by McKenzie and Langeveldt, who were both spurned by South Africa and have since had their Bangladesh contracts extended.

Indeed, the South Africans’ loss to Bangladesh, which followed their defeat by England and preceded being beaten by India, was the most crushing blow of a failed campaign that has prompted a rash of panicky restructuring by Cricket South Africa (CSA).

“I have followed Bangladesh’s progress with keen interest and I am extremely excited to assist the team in reaching the goals that they are capable of,” the release quoted Domingo as saying.

“I look forward to continuing the ongoing development of current players whilst also looking towards the future and developing some new bright stars from within the talent pool of Bangladesh cricket.”

In a CSA release, acting director of cricket Corrie van Zyl tried to put a positive spin on the news: “Russell has kept us in the loop throughout this process and, although we are sorry to lose his services, we wish him well and know that he will be yet another one of the coaches who have come successfully through our development system to coach at provincial or franchise level and end up at the very top.

“There are many names of coaches that spring to mind including Duncan Fletcher, Graham Ford, Mickey Arthur and Adrian Birrell.

“Gary Kirsten’s first significant coaching position was as batting consultant to the Warriors when Russell was in charge there and he has gone on to be a World Cup winner.”

Van Zyl neglected to mention that Kirsten didn’t win the World Cup with South Africa — he guided India to triumph in 2011 — and that none of the other coaches he named are still significantly involved in the game in the country.

New Zealander Daniel Vettori is the spin bowling expert in a Bangladesh coaching staff that, for their first trick, will take charge of a one-off Test against Afghanistan in Chattogram that starts on September 5.

Malibongwe Maketa, freshly fired as South Africa’s assistant coach in the wake the World Cup, is now the A team’s interim coach while Cobras coach Ashwell Prince will take Domingo’s place for a spin camp in Bangalore from August 17 to 23.

First published by TMG Digital.

De Kock to captain in India T20s, but no Morris or Steyn

“Nope.” – Chris Morris’ reply when asked if he had retired or signed a Kolpak contract.

TMG Digital

TELFORD VICE in London

QUINTON de Kock is easily cast as cricket’s unlikeliest captain, an opinion he will have the chance to change in South Africa’s men’s T20 series in India in September.

De Kock led South Africa in two one-day internationals in Sri Lanka in August last year, and his team lost both.

But Cricket South Africa (CSA) have put him in charge of next month’s T20 rubber, which won’t feature Faf du Plessis — previously the all-format captain — with Rassie van der Dussen as his deputy.

Du Plessis said in July, after a disappointing World Cup, that he would consider his future in the white-ball formats.

“The T20 series gives us the last chance to have a look at our leadership and batting options as the next edition of the men’s T20 World Cup [in Australia in October and November next year] is now little more than a year away, which is why we have gone with an inexperienced leadership group,” a release on Tuesday quoted CSA’s acting director of cricket, Corrie van Zyl, as saying.

“This is our last chance to do this before we settle on an established squad.

“I would like to stress that Faf du Plessis remains an important part of our plans for white-ball cricket.”

The release also revealed the squad for the three Tests that will follow the T20s.

Neither group included Chris Morris, who the release said “did not make himself available for selection”.

That sparked thoughts that the fast bowler, one of his team’s better performers at the World Cup, had retired or signed a Kolpak deal.

Asked on Tuesday for a reason, Morris said he was “just unavailable”.

Had he taken either of the above options?

“Nope.”

Dale Steyn, who hung up his Test whites last Monday but is still on board for the short, sharp stuff, was also excluded.

“They obviously lost my number in the reshuffling of coaching staff,” Steyn wrote on his Twitter account.

Temba Bavuma was named as Test vice-captain, while Van der Dussen — another World Cup standout — on Monday inherited Kolpakian Duanne Olivier’s CSA contract.

That would seem to be instructive about CSA’s thinking on the leadership in years to come.

Fast bowler Anrich Nortjé, left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy and wicketkeeper-batter Rudi Second have earned places in the Test squad for the first time.

Bavuma, spinning alrounder Bjorn Fortuin and Nortjé are also in their first T20 squad.

Aiden Markram, Theunis de Bruyn and Lungi Ngidi weren’t part of the discussion for the T20s as they will be busy with South Africa A’s concurrent four-day series in India.

Keshav Maharaj is the first-choice Test spinner, but he will have Muthsamy and off-spinner Dane Piedt — who played the most recent of his seven Tests in August 2016 — for company in the squad.

“We feel we have covered all the options for the conditions we are likely to encounter on the sub-continent with Muthusamy and Dane Piedt, who was far and away the leading wicket-taker in our [franchise] four-day competition [claiming 54 at 27.74, 20 more than second-placed Dane Paterson], providing the back-up to Keshav Maharaj,” the release quoted CSA’s acting director of cricket, Corrie van Zyl, as saying.

Zubayr Hamza, who made 41 and nought against Pakistan on a challenging Wanderers pitch in January in his only Test, will try to fill the vast vacancy left by Hashim Amla, who retired on Thursday. 

The selected squads reflect the ravages South Africa have endured due to retirements and Kolpak defections.

Five of the 15 picked for the Tests against Sri Lanka in February were not part of Tuesday’s squad, and only six of the 14 who did duty in the last two of the three T20s against the Lankans in March will go to India.

Of the 17 who were part of South Africa’s last Test series in India, in November 2015, when the home side won 3-0, only six will make the return journey.

Squads:

Test: Faf du Plessis (captain), Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortjé, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second.

T20: Quinton de Kock (captain), Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Junior Dala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, David Miller, Anrich Nortjé, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts.

Welcome to the big time, Enoch Nkwe. Now go to India …

The white-ball games won’t matter much, but there will be intense focus on the Tests, which will mark South Africa’s first matches in the World Test Championship and India’s first at home.

TMG Digital

TELFORD VICE in London

ENOCH Nkwe landed the most difficult job in cricket on Friday when he was appointed South Africa’s men’s team director for the tour to India next month.

Nkwe replaces Ottis Gibson, who was sacked as coach last Sunday, and manager Mohammed Moosajee, who stepped down two Thursdays ago.

“It is a special moment for me and my family and I will do my best to make a difference in this interim period,” Nkwe was quoted as saying in a Cricket South Africa release (CSA).

CSA’s acting director of cricket, Corrie van Zyl, was quoted as saying: “His appointment is as a result of his merits and balanced approach and is someone who compliments the direction that will be taken by the team going forward.”

Nkwe holds a level four coaching qualification, and won the inaugural Mzansi Super League with the Jozi Stars last season.

He has guided Gauteng’s Strikers four-day and T20 teams, and their under-19 side, to trophies, and served as the Netherlands assistant coach.

But he’s in the big time now, and assignments don’t come tougher than a tour to India — where South Africa will play three T20s and as many Tests.

The white-ball games won’t matter much, but there will be intense focus on the Tests, which will mark South Africa’s first matches in the World Test Championship and India’s first at home.

The shadow of South Africa’s last Tests in India, in November and December 2015, will hang over the tour.

India won 3-0 on some of most difficult pitches any South Africa team have yet batted on. 

Nkwe is 36 — the same age as Dale Steyn, who retired from Test cricket this week, and Hashim Amla, who has ended his entire international career.

Steyn bowled only 11 overs in that 2015 series before injuring a shoulder and missing the rest of it, and Amla scored just 118 runs and averaged 16.85 in seven innings.

But it’s a measure of South Africa’s problems on that visit that only Dean Elgar and AB de Villiers scored more runs than Amla, and that only De Villiers — who has also since retired — faced more balls.

The upside for Nkwe is that there is little expectation on him to succeed, and so minimal pressure.

And who knows what a good performance in India will do for his chances of being appointed to a permanent position.

Moosajee letter exposes rifts between SA team and suits

Proteas no longer directly represented on CSA exco.

TMG Digital

TELFORD VICE in London

THE longest serving member of South Africa’s men’s team’s dressingroom has lifted the lid on troubling aspects of the relationship between players and administrators.

Mohammed Moosajee become South Africa’s team doctor in 2003 and their manager in 2008, and has since fulfilled both roles.

In a letter from him to Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) board he estimated approximately R15-million had been saved because of his dual function.

That’s the extent of the good news. The rest will worry those keeping an eye on the state of the game in the country.

The letter, the contents of which are known to TMG Digital, was submitted to the board for their meeting on Thursday.

Moosajee informed the board that he did not want to continue, which CSA confirmed in a release on Sunday, which said he had “expressed … his wish not be considered for another term as joint team manager and team doctor, which the board accepted”.

The only other mention of Moosajee in the release was attributed to chief executive Thabang Moroe, who thanked him for his “national service to South African cricket”.

So far, so amicable. But Moosajee also wrote that late last year he survived an attempt to remove him from his position.

The move came to the attention of captain Faf du Plessis and coach Ottis Gibson, who met with CSA president Chris Nenzani to keep Moosajee on board.

Moosajee, who is contracted until September, also highlighted his alarm that he was not informed that he had been omitted from CSA’s exco — which the organisation’s website describes as its “senior executive team”.

The chief executives’ committee (CEC) comprises the chief executives of CSA and the South African Cricketers’ Association, or their equivalents, and the exco.

Moosajee had been part of the structure since 2011, and his absence means the national team are not directly represented on a body that, CSA’s website says, “is an important planning and operational committee serving under the chief executive (CE) of CSA”.

“The committee is intended to serve as an advisory committee to the CE and is entitled to make strategic and operational recommendations to the CE and the board of CSA,” the CEC’s terms of reference say.  

Asked on Monday what CSA planned to do about the team not having a say at that level, a spokesperson said, “That is not true. The national men’s and women’s team will now be represented by the acting director of cricket until the post is filled permanently.”

Which takes us back to Sunday’s release, which announced the sweeping aside of much of the structure around a national team that earned a hard look at how they function — or not — by losing five of their eight completed games at this year’s World Cup.

Gibson and his assistants have lost their jobs, although it seems they could reapply for them, and Du Plessis’ position appears uncertain.

CSA are on the hunt for a director of cricket as well as a team director, who it seems will have to fulfil the roles of coach and manager.

For now, Corrie van Zyl, CSA’s manager of cricket pathways, is the acting director of cricket and thus, by some measures, the most powerful person in the game in South Africa.

And all that with the clock ticking towards the tour to India in September, where three T20s and three Tests await.