Cape Town - The South African Cricketers' Association (SACA) has confirmed that Andrew Breetzke will be its new CEO, replacing the outgoing Tony Irish.
Irish will be stepping away from his role at the end of the year to take up a new role as CEO of the Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) in the United Kingdom.
Breetzke, meanwhile, has been the head of legal and player advocacy at SACA since 2012.
The news was confirmed on the same day that Cricket South Africa (CSA) CEO Thabang Moroe was provisionally suspended by the organisation amidst allegations of misconduct.
Under Irish, SACA had taken CSA under Moroe to court in an effort to put a stop to a proposed domestic restructure ahead of the 2020/21 season.
In addition to Breetzke's appointment, SACA announced that former Proteas team manager and doctor Mohammed Moosajee had been appointed to the SACA management board.
The news was confirmed via a SACA statement on Friday:
"At SACA’s annual general meeting in November the players elected and confirmed its Players Executive Committee, being Omphile Ramela (President), Khaya Zondo, Mignon Du Preez (Proteas Women) and Farhaan Behardien. The committee also includes SACA’s chief executive, ex officio. Andrew Breetzke, who has been head of legal and player advocacy at SACA since 2012, has been appointed as SACA’s new chief executive to succeed the outgoing Tony Irish who will take up the position of chief executive of the Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) in the United Kingdom in January 2020.
"Dr. Mohammed Moosajee, the former long serving manager of the men's Proteas team, has been appointed to the SACA Management Board and David Becker, former head of legal at the International Cricket Council (ICC) has been appointed as strategic and legal advisor to SACA."
"We are very confident that even with Tony’s departure we have in place an experienced and committed Players Executive Committee, Management Board and operations team which will continue to strongly represent the players interests through the challenging times ahead," said SACA President, Ramela.
"Andrew has worked with Tony for many years and has the necessary institutional knowledge and experience for the job.
"Tony has dedicated 17 years of his professional life to the player cause in South Africa. He has always acted with integrity and on principle, ensuring that the best interests of players and the game are protected. He has never been afraid to hold authority to account, thereby gaining the respect of many in cricket throughout South Africa and the world. Cricketers in South Africa owe Tony a debt of gratitude and his departure is a major loss for our sport. Our loss, however, is the PCA’s gain, and we wish him all the very best as he embarks on this new challenge."