CSA boss 'frustrated' by troubles with transformation

Cricket SA (CSA) president Rihan Richards said he was “frustrated” that transformation and racial targets remain hot button topics for the organisation. 

“It’s been 31 years already and we’re still talking about [transformation]; it shows how little progress we’ve made,” said Richards. 

CSA has again found itself mired in controversy after the organisation sanctioned the Eastern Province Cricket Union for not picking three black African players in the starting line-up for a One-Day Cup match last month. 

All provincial teams must contain at least six black players, including three black Africans. “I am very frustrated,” said Richards. “We keep seeing the same problems.” 

Targets were first introduced in 2013, after CSA hosted the Transformation Indaba, with the figures initially pegged at five black players, two of whom had to be black African. Two years later, the numbers were raised to their current level, but the “Africanisation of cricket”, as CSA termed it in 2013, has not occurred at the pace it had hoped when those targets were first implemented. 

“Diversity, equity and inclusions are pillars we live by, and we say the right words, but those things can’t be based purely on race. Maybe we must reprioritise the process,” he said. 

Richards couldn’t say whether CSA would bring an end to targets, claiming it needed to be part of wider discussions about transformation programmes.

Some of those talks are already happening as part of CSA’s broader review of the domestic structure to ensure sustainability for the sport. While much of the attention in that process regards finance and a possible reduction in the number of professional domestic teams, transformation remains critical, as the last few days showed. 

“We’ve held transformation indabas every year; we have a lot of talks and we have policies, but perhaps now we need to assess the programmes holistically; and ask if this is the best way for us to move forward.”

Although CSA has seen encouraging growth at grassroots level, encompassing both men and women — at the professional level, CSA isn’t seeing the benefits of its vast spending on transformation and development bearing fruit. “In terms of access to the sport, there is improvement, but transferring that into top level excellence is where we see a gap.”

Richards and CSA’s Members Council — the organisation’s highest decision-making body, which comprises the 15 provincial presidents — will meet on April 5, when transformation will again be high on the agenda.