CSA to win back public trust

Johannesburg - Cricket SA (CSA) must adopt the recommendations of the Nicholson inquiry as a matter of urgency in order to restore stakeholder and public confidence in the administration of the game, the SA Cricketers' Association (Saca) said on Saturday.

"The players have been patient throughout a long and unhappy period of instability but now that there are clear recommendations we expect the CSA Board to act immediately and decisively," Saca chief executive Tony Irish said in a statement.

"We want the administration of the game in the best hands and, at the heart of that process is getting the composition of the Board of Directors right."

Paragraph 357 of the Nicholson inquiry's conclusion states: "We are of the view that the changes, initiated in New Zealand and continued in Australia and the ICC, with regard to amending the constitution of CSA, so as to elect a smaller board, with a majority of independent, professionally skilled, non-executive directors, ought to be effected in South Africa."

Irish said the players wanted the restructuring to happen as soon as possible.

"The appointment of suitable directors cannot happen overnight, but the process should start immediately," said Irish.

"We believe that is the most important recommendation of the inquiry."