The United Cricket Board of South Africa extends its gratitude to the Portfolio Committee members and its Chairperson for their interest in South African cricket and for the opportunity for this meeting today.

Representing the UCBSA today are: Mr Rob Kurz, Vice President, Mr Raymond Mali who is an Executive Member of the UCBSA and is Chairperson of the Committee that deals with the development of South African cricket and our Transformation Consultant, Mr Chris Day.

The purpose of this presentation is to keep this Committee informed about transformation as reviewed for the past season.

It will be seen that we do not confine this report to playing matters, because TRANSFORMATION IS ELEMENTARY TO EVERYTHING WE DO.

Before dealing with the report in the main, the United Cricket Board of South Africa would like to thank Parliament and the Government for the tremendous support we received in hosting the ICC Cricket World Cup.

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 WAS A TREMENDOUS SUCCESS as a showpiece for South Africa and Africa, and has proved conclusively that South Africa has the ability to host major sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup, for which we are now bidding.

Special mention must also be made of the answer to the call of President Thabo Mbeki for volunteers to come forward and assist the ICC Cricket World Cup on behalf of the Nation. The response went far beyond expectations and the volunteers were a credit to our country and the drive to increase tourism.

It is estimated that more than 30, 000 tourists visited South Africa for the ICC Cricket World Cup and this boosted coffers across the board.

It also afforded the opportunity to showpiece our wonderful country to billions of television viewers around the world.

The only disappointment at the World Cup was the poor performance of our team and its early exit from the competition.

We are in a series of reviews of this failure, so that we can put things right for the future and I will deal with this later in my presentation.

If I may, I will now deal with the review of the past season, beginning with representivity that is one of the cornerstones of our transformation policy that is outlined in the brochure that is before you.

Players’ representivity targets WERE WELL ON TRACK THIS PAST SEASON AT ALL LEVELS, and the Cricket World Cup apart, representative teams at all levels are on a WINNING PATH.

This is a critical part of the UCBSA’s Transformation Policy that aims to make cricket a TRULY REPRESENTATIVE SPORT OF WINNERS.

An integral part of this policy is the designation of Blacks as a target group for transformation, with Black Africans, women and the impaired have been earmarked for ACCELERATED ADVANCEMENT BECAUSE OF HISTORICAL IMBALANCES.

Responsibility for the IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING OF THE TRANSFORMATION PROCESS lies with Provincial Presidents, CEOs and the National CEO.

As a result of this, monitoring of representivity targets is being done on a MATCH-BY-MATCH ON-THE-FIELD BASIS FROM THE START OF THIS LAST SEASON.

We only had to intervene on three instances regarding transformation targets.

In one instance a province requested to field a team below their targets of representivity.

In another instance a province continued to bat a specialist batsman at number nine.

There were requests from some provinces to field teams at the Women’s Inter-Provincial Tournament at less than 50% target and this was refused.

One of the biggest disappointments remain the representivity levels at the national tertiary tournaments where some teams are either all white or all black.

This is an area that we would like this committee to assist us by engaging the Department of Education and Culture.

ON-THE-FIELD DATA shows RECORD BLACK REPRESENTIVITY at UCBSA amateur national tournaments (U/13-19; women and country districts).

Transformation playing statistics are in a document in front of you and please feel free to consult them when necessary.

These figures indicate that the TEAM REPRESENTIVITY GUIDELINES set by General Council at all levels below professional competitions have exceeded the 50/50 targets this season.

This base of SA’s amateur cricket shows a record number of Black players, with BLACK AFRICAN REPRESENTIVITY ON THE INCREASE.

These figures show an increase of black players on the previous season of about 10% across the board.

This is a trend that is EXTENDING UP THE CRICKETING LADDER, although there is concern about the predominance still of White captains.

This is a challenge for CAPACITY BUILDING THROUGH LEADERSHIP MENTORING and will be workshopped this season in all provinces.

The next step up from this amateur base is first class and U19 domestic competitions, and once again the FIGURES SHOW A RECORD NUMBER OF BLACK PLAYERS – 112 in first class cricket and 91 in the U19 tournament.

These figures show an increase of Black players of up to 10% across the board on the previous year (please see the statistics provided).

Again, it MUST BE STRESSED THAT THESE ARE ON-THE-FIELD STATISTICS on a match-by-match basis:

The top of the cricketing pyramid also shows dramatic progress this season, with a record number of Blacks representing UCBSA national teams.

Another significant factor is that these National Teams have won by far the majority of their matches this season, and the SA National Team is now ranked No. 2 in the world in both forms of the game. This surely belies racial claims that black players lower standards and help to lose matches.

The selection panel comprised three Blacks and two Whites, with Omar Henry as convenor.

Umpiring has shown COMMENDABLE TRANSFORMATION PROGRESS with Black representivity growth in the Youth Tournaments, where BLACK UMPIRES ARE IN THE MAJORITY (53% - 37% Black African).

It is of concern that this pattern has NOT YET TRANSFERRED TO UPPER DOMESTIC COMPETITION LEVELS, especially in the UCBSA Bowl competition where more Black umpires could by now be expected to be standing.

It is, however, common cause that UMPIRE TRAINING IS A HIGHLY SPECIALISED AND LENGTHY PROCESS, and a workshop is to be held to extend the excellent transformation progress made in the U19 domestic competition into professional competitions.

The workshops will SET NEW TARGETS, and devise WAYS TO ACHIEVE THEM.

The umpires’ data shows:

On one occasion, we intervened to ensure that targets were set in a high profile match.

Coaching also showed TRANSFORMATION PROGRESS across the board this half of the new season.

Black coaches are now in the majority (24 out of 45) in the Provincial System and HAVE IN THE MAIN EMBRACED THE UCBSA’s TRANSFORMATION POLICY.

This can be seen in two important areas:

We look forward to the senior coaches’ mentoring process paving the way for EMERGING COACHES TO REACH THE TOP in the near future.

We are mindful that this process has to be accelerated and this is going to be workshopped in all provinces.

The intake for this year’s National Academy also includes 8 Black cricketers out of a total of 15, and these include FIVE BLACK AFRICANS.

Coaching staff at the academy includes Vincent Barnes, the first Black head coach, and the up-and-coming Lawrence Mahatlane

It is also noteworthy that there are now a record number of South African coaches in our system, and this shows that LOCAL IS LEKKER.

Women’s cricket is one of the UCBSA’s DESIGNATED TARGET GROUPS FOR TRANSFORMATION and this season saw the start of a NEW ERA FOR WOMEN IN SA CRICKET.

The first-ever national transformation seminar for women’s cricket was held and IN-DEPTH PROPOSALS have been workshopped with the UCBSA’s Development Sub-Committee.

The U19 Girls national tournament produced 61 Black players, of whom the majority was Black African. The Women’s Inter Provincial Tournament took place in April, and targets of 50/50 were met by all teams.

This tournament was used as trials for the upcoming tour of the United Kingdom and 6 black players were selected out of a squad of 15.

Facilities remain a KEY ELEMENT OF TRANSFORMATION, and the UCBSA has in place 59 Cricket Legacy 2003 Projects with the valued assistance of the SA Government, SA Breweries and Standard Bank.

These are aimed at providing facilities for the ADVANCEMENT OF CRICKET IN PREVIOUSLY DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES, mainly in Black African townships.

These projects are outlined on pages 28 and 29 of the UCBSA’s TRANSFORMATION POLICY BROCHURE and that is before you.

The government and local authorities must be complimented for their invaluable assistance in these projects. We do however need the assistance of provincial MEC’s for example in the Port Elizabeth district at Kwa-Zakhele High School, where the school was built on a salt pan, making it impossible to create playing fields. The salt pan needs to be drained with the assistance of the local authority and the Department of Education, to add to the R500, 000 we have set aside for this project.

Another feature of the Cricket Legacy 2003 Project is the sharing of facilities with other sporting codes, such as Boxing, Netball, Hockey and Athletics.

The UCBSA has transformed its procurement policies and all contracts are awarded to companies that have a minimum of 50% black empowerment. Examples include:

The UCBSA has achieved, across levels, targets of 50% in the short term and now stands at over 60%.

The total compliment of UCBSA Head Quarter staff is 43, of which 29 are Black, 22 are Women and of the 10 Senior Management positions, 5 are occupied by Blacks.

At present, UCBSA staff are undergoing assessment procedures in order to improve their skills and widen their horizons.

Sustainability is vital for the ON-GOING GROWTH OF SOUTH AFRICAN CRICKET as its transforms itself into a TRULY REPRESENTATIVE SPORT OF WINNERS.

The majority of UCBSA funding has been set aside for the DEVELOPMENT OF CRICKET NATIONALLY, and the scorecard system will continue to ensure CONTROL OVER EXPENDITURE FOR APPROVED PROJECTS.

The budget this year for Cricket Development is R53 million – most of which is earmarked for previously disadvantaged communities, both in rural and urban areas. Of this total, R23 million has been raised by the UCBSA from commerce and industry, whilst R30 million comes from income generated by the UCBSA. Over and above this, R25 million will be spent on the Cricket Legacy 2003 Project, making a grand total spend of R78 million.

In addition to the UCBSA funding, the sum of R144 million, as dividends from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, will be allocated to the UCBSA’s 11 affiliates for Cricket Development - mainly in the previously disadvantaged communities in South Africa.

The key to the ongoing success of our cricket development through transformation is our REACHING OUR TARGETS ON A SUSTAINABLE BASIS.

To do this, we have put in new systems where none existed before and it is with some measure of pride that the UCBSA will soon announce that it has been granted the International Standards Organisation certification by the SA Bureau of Standards.

This means that the UCBSA is the first administrative sporting body in the world to achieve this high rating for management and corporate systems.

The UCBSA has also been awarded certification as one of South Africa’s top performers in our economic sector and is now listed as one of South Africa’s top 300 companies.

Another priority is capacity building, and this is being reviewed in across the board in terms of the UCBSA’s Transformation Policy and its Strategic Business Plan.

The UCBSA has allocated R200 000 to each affiliate to ENSURE THAT FULL-TIME AMATEUR CRICKET MANAGERS ARE APPOINTED.

We have appointed 6 Regional Cricket Co-ordinators to oversee Coaching and the development of Club Cricket in previously disadvantaged communities. This is a major priority of the UCBSA and it hopes to work in conjunction with the Government and local authorities in this regard.

An important aspect of the UCBSA’s transformation is helping CREATE NEW UNDERSTANDINGS and identities by empowering and recognizing those people excluded from official histories and official cricket life under apartheid.

There has been MUCH PROGRESS in the past three years, and in this season a major work was published "Blacks in Whites – A Century of Cricket Struggles in KwaZulu-Natal" with the assistance of UCBSA funding.

The Western Province Cricket Association produced an exceptional publication called "More than a Game" that sketched the colourful history of cricket in the Western Cape, previously unpublished in book form.

The Gauteng Cricket Board has recently published a book on the history of Black cricket in the province, called "Across the Great Divide".

A new publication under the auspices of the UCBSA, "The Story of an African Game", will be launched in September 2003. The author of the book is well-known cricket historian, Prof. André Odendaal and it covers the period 1850 – 2003. It contains 300 photographs and includes research over 100 years of Black publications, such as Isigidimi sama Xhosa, Imvo Zabantsundu, Izwi Labantu, Tsala eyabacoana, Mteteli Wabantu, APO, Cape Herald, Bantu World, Golden City Post and others.

From next month, strategic planning workshops will be held in each province as part of the UCBSA’s annual review of progress and to address gaps and new challenges.

Provincial MEC’s, or their representatives will be invited to attend.

These workshops will play a key role in addressing the issues raised in the recommendations of the committee appointed by the Honourable Minister of Sport & Recreation, Mr Ngconde Balfour, into transformation of South African cricket.

We in the UCBSA believe that together with the recommendations of the Minister’s committee, meaningful progress will be made in the efforts to redress the imbalances of the past.

Recommendations eminating from these provincial workshops will be forwarded to the UCBSA’s General Council Meeting on 1 September 2003.

The scheduled dates of the workshops are:

The UCBSA is also very keen to engage this Portfolio Committee’s Cricket Sub-Committee. As you will recall, Madame Chair, we have made previous requests to meet with the Sub-Committee on the way forward on relevant issues and we hope that this will take place sooner rather than later.

It is the commitment of the United Cricket Board of South Africa that cricket will become a truly representative sport of winners.

We believe we are well on the road to success. However, there is still much work to be done and we cannot do it alone. We need this committee’s assistance, we need the assistance of the Ministry of Sport & Recreation, the Sports Commission and we need the assistance of the MEC’s.

For this to happen, we need all decision makers to be intellectually and emotionally committed to the cause of Transformation – for the benefit of South Africa.

This is part of our "OPERATION TEAMWORK" and we want to extend this to all who work for the good of cricket in South Africa.

I THANK YOU.