CSA deny Smith, Boucher part of firm that owns 3TC

Theories that Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher are founders and shareholders in the company that owns 3TC, the new format that could be used to restart cricket in the country, have been hotly denied and could become a police matter.

Smith and Boucher played 93 Tests together and are now Cricket South Africa (CSA) employees. Their involvement in separate projects directly linked to their positions would have the potential to create conflicts of interest – especially if money is a factor.

A planning document is circulating that lists Boucher, the coach of South Africa’s men’s team, among eight people each described as a “3TC founder/shareholder”. The name of Smith, CSA’s director of cricket, is also on the list but without a designated role in the company. Even so, he has been described in various conversations as a 3TC shareholder.

But CSA and 3TC are adamant that Smith and Boucher do not have active roles in 3TC. CSA concede both were involved in devising the format’s concept, which they declared to CSA, but that does not constitute a conflict.

Consequently, CSA are considering lodging a case of crimen injuria, a crime under South African common law defined as an act of “unlawfully, intentionally and seriously impairing the dignity of another”. Not that it is apparent who the charge might be laid against.

“CSA has established the existence of and are in the possession of a fraudulent document claiming that Mark Boucher is a shareholder of 3TC cricket,” a CSA release on Tuesday said. “This information is incorrect, and it is emphatically pointed out that Mark Boucher is not a director of this company. This document was maliciously sent to journalists to discredit CSA its employees, and, in particular, Mark Boucher. We will launch an internal investigation into the origin of this false and fraudulent document and will also lay criminal charges.

“It is very important that the person/s who act with the intent of harming cricket are exposed and rooted out of the game. We will leave no stone unturned to make sure that the malicious perpetrators face the full might of the law.

“[3TC chief executive] Francois Pienaar… has confirmed that Mark is not a director and that no other CSA employee is in any way associated with 3TC. Pienaar welcomes any forensic investigation into this initiative, should there be a need for anyone to look into and test this.”

But if Smith and Boucher are not part of 3TC why are their names swirling in this context? Welcome to the fiercely, sometimes unfairly, contested terrain of all things cricket in South Africa.

The suspension of CSA chief executive Thabang Moroe in December drew a line in the sand. In this scenario, Moroe and the interests of blacks in cricket stand on one side of that line while Smith – who is believed to have made accepting his appointment, also in December, conditional on Moroe’s removal – is on the other representing what blacks have called a white “coup”.

CSA has performed demonstrably better at the operational level with Moroe out of the way. But 3TC’s inaugural fixture, the Solidarity Cup, a charity event which was scheduled for Centurion on Saturday, had to be postponed because express permission for it to be played had not been obtained from the government.

The exposure as false of Smith’s assertion during 3TC’s launch last Wednesday that “everything has been okayed” with government offered his enemies a weapon, which they might have used to fire the allegations about his and Boucher’s involvement in 3TC.

If so, the plot has clumsily conceived. As a source close to the situation told Fame Dubai on Tuesday: “It’s a one-off game where everything goes to charity. It would be the worst shareholding you could have.”

3TC’s confirmed founders and shareholders include 1995 World Cup-winning Springbok Pienaar, cricket commentator Mark Nicholas, and banker Paul Harris, who originated the concept.

Fame Dubai understands that none of the shareholders currently earn any money from 3TC – one of them said they were working on the Solidarity Cup “pro bono, it’s all sweat equity” – but the company has been established as a professional entity and could conceivably turn a profit in future.

The copyright for 3TC’s rules is owned by Advent Sport Entertainment and Media, Pienaar’s group, whose stable includes the Cape Town Marathon and Varsity Sports, which runs competitions across nine codes. Pienaar has a personal stake in 3TC. Applications for trademarks have been made, and 3TC has registered itself and its format with the Format Recognition and Protection Association in the Netherlands. The format has been licenced to CSA for R1, or less than a US cent.

A single 3TC match features three teams, who face each of their opponents’ attacks for half their allotted overs. The team who score the most runs are declared gold medallists. It is hoped the format will help develop the game because it should give weaker teams the chance to play with and against stronger sides.

The format has been developed over the past 22 months after Harris hit on the idea when he wanted to play cards with his wife and daughter in a game designed for two players only.

Saturday’s game would have seen teams of eight players contest a match of 36 overs. Organisers aimed to raise up to USD170,000 for CSA’s hardship fund meant to benefit economic victims of the coronavirus pandemic.

But, at CSA’s presentation to the parliamentary sport, arts and culture committee on Friday, sports minister Nathi Mthethwa said: “You did come to us and cricket has been working very well with us, but while your request for June 27 has been processed it hasn’t been approved.

“There are things we need to do and there are ongoing consultations with the department of health. People are being tested and we would want the details of that if there’s an indication of any player who has tested positive. We are still processing it, so it mustn’t be put as if it is approved because it will pass here if it is approved.”

In a release on Saturday the ministry said: “Upon receipt of the plans as required by the directions the minister must apply his mind as to whether sports bodies have complied with all the requirements as proclaimed in the directions. During the period of processing the plan, no sports body is allowed to resume training or playing.”

The fact that Centurion is in a coronavirus hotspot will only have complicated CSA’s request. Neither will the cause have been helped by seven positives for the virus being recorded from approximately 100 tests conducted by CSA’s six franchises. But Smith and Boucher, it seems, are not part of the problem.