CSA Domestic Cricket Manager Breaks Silence on Beyers Swanepoel Final Disappearance

In what was meant to be end of the professional domestic cricket in the South African cricket landscape, it has been overshadowed by the incident that occurred in the CSA One Day Cup Final between Lions and Titans.

Lions All-rounder Beyers Swanepoel who was due to play for his county in the UK for their summer, was nowhere to be found in the final overs of the Final which forced the Lions to field with 10 men and ultimately costing the side victory over the Lions in a Final. 

CSA Head of Pathways and manager of the domestic Edward Khoza scene at the time gives insight on the matter.

“It is a very unfortunate situation; we received the report from the Match Referee. There was about 7 overs left when Beyers left the field and when he left the field people [players, management and officials] were under the impression he was leaving the field on a comfort break of which you are allowed," Khoza told SportsBoom.co.za in an exclusive interview. 

“You are allowed to leave the field for about 8 minutes, after the 8 minutes he was not back yet. Match Referee instructed the fourth official to check what was going on and that was when they realised the man has left the ground.”

“The minute they realised what was going on, the 12th man was called off from the fields as the Lions had to play the remaining overs 10 men. No one was aware of his situation at the start of the game. We need to find out, who gave him permission.”

Undermining CSA Processes – NOC Status

An NOC or No-Obligation Certificate allows South African based players to ply their trade outside the country, bar there is an agreement with player and his South African Union with CSA being notified of the players status.

“If you look at the report, you start to realise and think who gave him permission? For a [South African] player to go and play in the UK, they require a ‘No-Obligation Certificate’ a NOC. We at CSA and his employers at CGL [Central Gauteng Lions] never granted [NOC].”

“We are speaking professional cricket here and I think his actions made a laughingstock and disrupted our processes [at CSA]. We are trying to propel players and play for the national and we don’t need such conduct [Swanepoel’s actions]."

“Once the investigation has concluded we will be able to unpack everything but as things stand at the moment, there is no NOC that has been granted to him, and he will have to face the full might of the disciplinary actions against him.”

Possible Sanctions

As things stand, Swanepoel won't be able to play in the UK with the NOC, which will make things difficult for him as he will have to abide by his UK clubs' contract of which he cannot. He is set to lose his UK and CGL contract upon investigations.

“He is not allowed to play, we have informed ECB [English Cricket Board] of the matter, and they have responded on the matter. He will have to sit on the sidelines until the disciplinary matter is resolved. We sent ECB a letter that he [Swanepoel] doesn’t possess an NOC, and they liaised with the County side. At the end of the day, we are all governed by the ICC.”

“I don’t want to pre-empt the possible disciplinary outcome could be but is a massive challenge on his part. There was no material reason for him to leave the field and catch a flight on that day. Because when we investigated further, we noticed his contractual obligation, his County didn’t require him to leave on the day that he left.”

“His employers are not happy; they had to field with 10 men towards the latter parts of the game and they also want answers.”

Pound vs Rand – Monetary Motivation

It is no secret, the Pound, and Euro or even the Dollar is a strong currency compared to the Rand. Which might give players monetary motivation to play abroad to cash in on lucrative contracts as players do need to look after their families. 

Although Khoza disagrees on the monetary motives, he does understand there are personal reasons to why players want to play abroad as well.

“We deal with NOCs often. And some cases, we would give NOC’s during a season as there are material reasons to why we do so. Maybe a franchise doesn’t require a certain player for that particular format and are quite happy to release him and we will support that decision.”

“Yes, the money could be seen as a driving force, but the processes and procedures still need to adhere to. Some of these guys are on good contracts in South Africa, additionally with the SA20 they made good money as well. You can't narrate the fact they need to make more money; it’s just the fact people still need to follow protocols and procedures.”

“We support our players well and it is quite disappointing we have to deal of a matter of this nature,” he concluded.