Lorgat sidelined as India and SA agree deal




LONDON – South Africa and India have agreed a compromise deal which will see India's tour of South Africa go ahead, it was announced Tuesday, with Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive Haroon Lorgat "withdrawn" from India-related matters.

A joint statement issued by CSA and the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India said their sides will now play two Tests and three one-day internationals, although the dates and venues have still to be announced.

Relations between the two boards deteriorated as a result of reported BCCI anger at the way Lorgat had dealt with them in his previous role as chief executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

And the situation was inflamed further when David Becker, a former legal advisor to CSA, accused the BCCI – cricket's wealthiest national board and one on which other countries depend for finance as a result of lucrative broadcast income arising from India tours – of breaching rules regarding the ICC's Future Tours Programme.

However, the joint statement, which followed discussions between the two boards during the recent ICC meeting in London, said Lorgat would have a reduced role in CSA's dealings with the BCCI and would stand down from the ICC's chief executives' committee while the global governing body "investigated" his conduct.

Furthermore, "the findings and recommendations" of the ICC investigation will be "binding" upon CSA.

"The agreement to tour was concluded by the two boards after various concerns were raised around the recent ICC board meeting in London about the alleged conduct of CSA's chief executive, Mr Haroon Lorgat, and recent comments made about the ICC Board by a former legal advisor to CSA, Mr David Becker," the joint statement said.

"The ICC and CSA have already refuted the comments made by Mr Becker, and the ICC is now considering its legal options in respect of the same.

"In addition, the ICC will convene an investigation by an independent third party (to be appointed by the ICC) into the content and distribution of the media comments, subsequent attempts to have them withdrawn, and, in particular, the role of Mr Lorgat in relation to these matters.

"Pending the outcome of this investigation, CSA has ordered the withdrawal of Mr Lorgat from representing it at the ICC's Chief Executive's Committee (or from acting in any other ICC-related matters), and CSA has also withdrawn him from having involvement in any aspect of CSA's relationship with the BCCI, including but not limited to the upcoming tour.

"All parties have agreed that this investigation will be carried out in private, that no further media comment will be made until it has been concluded, and that its findings and recommendations will be binding upon CSA."

The tour had been scheduled to start on November 18 and was due to include three Test matches, seven one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals.

But doubts about that schedule emerged with the BCCI having made arrangements for an incoming tour by the West Indies and a tour of New Zealand which clash with the beginning and end of the fixtures published by CSA.

The two-Test series against the West Indies is set to see India national hero Sachin Tendulkar, the highest run-scorer in Test history, play his 200th and final Test before retirement. – Nampa-AFP