Johannesburg, FERGUS RYAN | Wednesday
COMMENTS made by the United Cricket Board of SA president Percy Sonn which caused such a brouhaha were, evidently, misinterpreted.
Gerald Majola, chief executive officer of the UCB, said that having listened to the tapes and heard accounts during a special meeting in Johannesburg on Tuesday, he was certain that Sonn had been ”misinterpreted”.
He hastened to add that Sonn had not been misquoted.
In an extraordinary week in which South Africa was thumped 3-0 by Australia in the Test series, Sonn appeared to plea for Hansie Cronje to be given a role to play in South African cricket and blamed Graham Ford for the humiliation. This after he interfered in the final selection of the team and chastised national selector Graeme Pollock after the latter expressed his unhappiness on Australian radio.
”On both the Hansie issue and the Ford issue, I think Percy was misinterpreted,” said Majola on Tuesday. ”We listened to Percy today (Tuesday) and he said he never made any statement suggesting that Ford’s position was in jeopardy.”
On Tuesday, the UCB stated that it fully supported coach Ford, his assistant Corrie van Zyl and skipper Shaun Pollock. It also reiterated its position that Cronje’s life ban was likely to remain unchanged.
More problems cropped up for the UCB in Australia when an unnamed player lashed out at Sonn, describing him to a reporter as a man who knew very little about cricket and ”had put the skids beneath us”.
”All these things were put to Percy,” added Majola. ”Not one player came out openly and said these things to Percy. But we’re not going to go and look for this player. We’re not gunning for anyone.”
Majola went on to say that the UCB was not ”gunning” for Graeme Pollock either.
”As I said, everything was discussed. We’re certainly not singling out Graeme Pollock. At the moment we’re waiting for Rushdie Magiet’s report.”
Magiet is the convenor of selectors.
Earlier, the UCB’s executive committee met in Johannesburg with Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour, who expressed his support for the board, the national team and for the transformation process.
In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, the UCB said that ”contrary to interpretations in the media”, Sonn had not been summoned to face the executive, nor was it a disciplinary meeting.
Last week Majola said that he was ”shocked” by Sonn’s remarks and that a special meeting would be called so that the president could explain his remarks.
The criticism levelled at the Sonn by a number of former players was also dealt with at the meeting.
”The UCB values their expertise and experience and invites them to make a contribution to South African cricket in a positive manner,” the cricketing body said.
If there are issues — particularly around transformation — that these former players do not fully understand, the UCB would be happy to engage them in discussions.” – Sapa