By Fakir Hassen, IANS
Johannesburg : The tension between South African cricket bosses and the coach that was threatening the Bangladesh tour has been resolved, but commentators here feel that it is likely to flare up again when the team for the tour of India in March has to be selected.
The fight is over the number of coloured players who should be in the Proteas squad, as per Cricket South Africa (CSA) policy. This has come up against the practice of selecting the squad on merit alone, a practice supported strongly by team coach Mickey Arthur.
The South African squad prepared to leave here Wednesday for a tour of Bangladesh after a veto of the team composition last week by the CSA president, advocate Norman Arendse, led to some unnamed players allegedly threatening to boycott the tour in support of Arthur.
Arendse was at loggerheads with Arthur, who claimed that there was undue interference in the selectors’ choices, while Arendse said he was merely implementing CSA policy.
After complaints were lodged with the CSA by both Arendse and Arthur against each other, it fell on a meeting of the South African cricket body’s general council Monday to make a final call as the announcement of the team to Bangladesh was delayed.
The council, which includes the presidents of 11 provincial cricket unions, reportedly concluded that Arendse did not have the power to block the selectors’ choices. But at the same time, the council also agreed that if the policy of the CSA was not implemented, there could be dire consequences for the game in South Africa.
These policies include a transformation programme to include more black players in a side, which for decades under the apartheid government precluded them from international cricket.
None of the parties involved or captain Graeme Smith would comment to the media here Wednesday, but Tony Irish, chairman of the South African Cricket Players Association, told the Afrikaans daily Beeld the players were relieved that the integrity of the selection process had been maintained.
“That the 14 players who were originally chosen by the national selectors will get aboard a flight to Bangladesh on Wednesday is exceptional news,” Irish said.
But observers here said this was just “an uneasy truce” to allow the Bangladesh tour to proceed.
There are concerns that the problem will rear its head again when the selectors have to decide on the South African side for a tour of India in March and April, following the Bangladesh tour.