CSA went back and forth over Gibson’s future as SA coach

A decision to rescind an earlier move to extend Gibson’s contract until April 2021 wasn’t conveyed to him until May 19, the same day South Africa’s squad left for the World Cup.

Sunday Times

TELFORD VICE in London

THERE are likely dead men — and women — walking in the wake of Saturday night’s Cricket South Africa (CSA) awards in Pretoria, and not only those who drank too much.

The function followed a board meeting on Thursday at which, the Sunday Times understands, it was decided that the coaching staff of South Africa’s men’s team would have to re-apply for their jobs in the wake of a shambolic World Cup performance.

South Africa won only three of their eight completed games and were the first team eliminated from the race for a place in the semi-finals.

That clouded the futures of head coach Ottis Gibson and his assistant, Malibongwe Maketa, along with batting coach Dale Benkenstein and spin consultant Claude Henderson. *

But one well-placed source said asking them to justify continuing in their positions would constitute a “copout” to avoid simply not renewing the contracts, and that legal trouble could follow.

Asked on Friday for an update on the meeting, a CSA spokesperson said a release would “most likely” be issued on “Monday or Tuesday”. “The attention for this weekend is solely on the awards,” he said.

Gibson has said he is contracted until September, but the Sunday Times has learnt that the board decided at its February meeting to extend his deal to April 2021.

That was still the situation in March when Gibson met with CSA chief executive Thabang Moroe and head of cricket pathways Corrie van Zyl.

But the decision to prolong the contract was rescinded — which wasn’t conveyed to Gibson until May 19, the same day South Africa’s squad left for the World Cup in England.

If Gibson is questioning his employers’ professionalism, he is likely not alone.

Performance appraisals were held during South Africa’s series against Sri Lanka in February and March, at which the team’s technical support staff — their security man, analyst, physiotherapist and logistics officer — asked for their contracts to be lengthened until April 2021.

They were told CSA management would discuss the matter and come back to them before the World Cup. That didn’t happen, and they weren’t told why not.

Saturday night’s awards will have raised eyebrows, not least because of South Africa’s poor World Cup campaign — their worst in their eight trips to the tournament.

The function could be seen as another strange episode in the ongoing soap opera of South African cricket.

There has been behind the scenes grumbling about the standard of the made-for-television production, which in past years has been slick.

SuperSport are understood to have had to be persuaded to broadcast this year’s ceremony live, a claim a network spokesperson denied: “No reluctance on SuperSport’s part whatsoever.”

Some of Saturday night’s attendees might have kept a close eye on the human dynamics of an increasingly divided board in which some directors are apparently not on speaking terms with others.

More sensibly, CSA have decided not to foot the travel and accommodation bill for journalists invited to the awards.

Coming on top of the vast amounts spent on food and drink, paying for hundreds of flights and hotel rooms are the last thing needed by an organisation that has told parliament it could lose up to R654-million by the end of the 2022 rights cycle.

* Originally published before CSA said on Sunday that Gibson and his assistants were no longer in their positions.