Cricket South Africa reaffirms its support for Black Lives Matter movement

“We note the claims of discrimination and racism that have been made by current and former players and coaches, and we acknowledge that these are a part of the sport’s past, and sadly, its present. We have to face the reality, as management and custodians of the game, that we need to come up with creative, tangible and meaningful ways to address this – even more than we have done already – to make sure that they are not part of our future,” said a statement released by CSA on Wednesday (July 15).

CSA welcomed Lungi Ngidi’s support for the movement and solidarity shown by the 31 players and coaches. Earlier on July 8, CSA director Graeme Smith stated that the board will find an ‘effective way’ to contribute towards the movement in a country that has a history of segregation.

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“We are very aware of what’s going on around the world and of our role at CSA, Lungi answered it very well when he said we are all in our own little pockets, and I think it’s important that in the future we all come together and figure out how we can play our role in the BLM movement; how we can be effective in doing that,” Smith said in an online press conference.

“As a national federation that is custodian to a sport that is loved and played by South African men and women, CSA is actively working to redress the inequalities of the past and to make cricket a truly transformed national sport of winners,” read the statement.

CSA reiterated their commitment to the transformation charter and promised to structure and implement transformation initiatives as part of the process to reinvent, re-engineer and re-organise the cricket system. Affirmative action will be taken to increase the number of people involved in the game, increase accessibility to all participants and participant groupings and consistently improve performances.

The statement says CSA have invested nearly R385 million in cricket transformation and development in the 2019-20 financial year and met its transformation targets at the development level for the season. “CSA's intention is to continue to invest resources in transformation as they did in the past and measure impact with incentives and consequences,” the statement added.

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“While the current COVID-19 global pandemic is having a significant impact on transformation projects, CSA continues to meet with members to agree on sustainable growth targets in increasing participation and improving access to cricket. Quarterly monitoring of member progress against their self-set transformation targets will be in place, in a drive to increase the pace of transformation.”

“It is clear that a multi-disciplinary focus is required to ensure the sustainability of cricket programs among disadvantaged communities, particularly when it comes to field and wicket maintenance. This includes engaging with local authorities, and strengthening CSA’s partnership with Netball South Africa.”

“The advances made in professionalising women’s cricket environment will serve as a new wave for future expansion of Girls’ Cricket and this area therefore, presents itself as a new market for sponsors. There are also plans to strengthen the Women’s T20 Super League, and to introduce Meso cricket at high school level to grow participation, and create an ongoing flow of new recruits to the game.”