South Africa get Indian tour but ditch Lorgat

Wednesday, 23 October 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

REUTERS: South Africa have confirmed a two test and three one-day international home series against India later this year, but stripped their Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat of some of his duties in order to secure the lucrative visit.

Lorgat, a former International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive who has an acrimonious relationship with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), will now be investigated by his former employers. India’s tour over the South African summer has been the subject of much wrangling since Cricket South Africa (CSA) unilaterally announced a three-test, seven ODI and two Twenty20 schedule in July. This has now been drastically curtailed, with severe financial consequences, as the BCCI suggested a longer tour would be too much of a physical burden on their players. The exact tour dates for the new schedule have still to be confirmed, CSA said in a statement on Tuesday. CSA also announced that pending an independent investigation to be convened by the ICC, Lorgat has effectively been left to deal with domestic cricket duties only. It follows comments made by a former legal advisor to CSA, David Becker, who said the BCCI was bullying the ICC Board into making decisions that benefited Indian cricket only. “(The ICC) has become powerless in the face of India’s dominance and is forced to succumb to the manipulative tactics of the BCCI just to keep their jobs,” Becker was quoted in South Africa media last week. “There is one man who makes decisions at board level and (this is) certainly not in the interests of world cricket.” BCCI President Narayanaswami Srinivasan is widely held to wield overdue influence because of India’s financial power. The ICC will now investigate whether Lorgat had any input into these comments, something both he and the CSA have denied. CSA has ordered the withdrawal of Lorgat from representing it at the ICC’s Chief Executives’ Committee and from having involvement in any aspect of CSA’s relationship with the BCCI.