White steps down from UCB after no confidence vote

Bloemfontein - Ray White's shaky, if controversial, tenure as president of the United Cricket Board has come to an end halfway into a surprise second term after he resigned from the post today.

The resignation does not come into force until February 11, after an ICC meeting in Singapore which is tied with South Africa's 2003 World Cup planning.

Although re-elected in July last year after being opposed by Percy Sonn for the post, White, a former Cambridge University and Gloucestershire batsman between 1962 and 1965. Also played for Transvaal until 1975 when he stepped into administration.

White's resignation comes after a letter seeking a vote of no confidence was circulated among UCB Board members by Gerald Majola, a board member as well as national selector, and brother of Khaya Majola, who runs the board's amateur and development wings. The letter became public last Thursday when it was released.

Majola's objection to White's presidency came after the former Transvaal chairman was accused of retarding the transformation process and ignoring the selection policy of teams when he had a hand in selection of the Northerns/Gauteng XI to play the England at SuperSport Park (Centurion) last November. When announced the side did not include any affirmative action players although Peter Kirsten, the Northerns coach, had names of two on his list.

It was the latest move in a long-running verbal fracas as moves to get rid of White and replace him with a "politically correct" candidate surfaced weeks after he took over from Krish Mackerdhuj in June 1998. Mackerdhuj stepped down in 1998 to take up the post of South Africa's Ambassador in Japan.

White angered board members and the UCB's Transformation Monitoring Committee on January 3, 1999 with separate comments after the acceptance of the Cricket Charter and pledge to the nation. So far the UCB is the only sport to make such a pledge.

Majola was reluctant before Saturday's meeting to make comment on his planned "vote of no confidence" and is said not to have canvassed support as there were others who were of a similar mind. "I feel very strongly about this. It is something I have to do," he commented in a Johannesburg newspaper Saturday. "Western Province opposed White's presidency last year and I hope I will get that kind of support."

What is interesting is that Mluleki George, a political figure in national sport circles and of the National Sports Council, welcomed White's resignation as "good news".

After his efforts to take over rugby, and what with soccer in such an administrative mess as to earn strong government censure, hopefully George will not try to muscle in on an area where politicians have a habit of throwing mud pies to gum up the works.

Sonn is to take over from White from February 11 and there is a good chance he will be returned to the post in July. Who will become his deputy is another matter. What the game does not need is politicians with egos who see it as their private toy. It has happened to South African soccer and the results are catastrophic.

On another front Gauteng have escaped with a censure and their coach Mark O'Donnell rapped over the knuckles which no more than a limp slap of the wrist when the UCB's disciplinary board found the New Zealand-born coach guilty of infringing Law 7, note 3, interference with a pitch. No doubt O'Donnell, who along with director of coaching, Rodney Ontong, are highly sensitive to criticism, will see the failure to dock points for the incident, which took place in a SuperSport Series match against Boland, in Paarl, as a small victory.

Gauteng, as log leaders of the Super Eights, are in line to host the final later in the month, and O'Donnell, not noted as some one who readily return calls, will prepare the side.

He picked up the covers over the pitch at Paarl before the start of the A Section game against Boland and later wanted the groundsman to place matting on the pitch. Had he read the laws a little more carefully he would have seen that only the captains can agree to such a step, and then with the consent of the umpires.

It is a simple enough philosophy within the game and no one is the above the Laws of the Game or code of conduct. As it is both O'Donnell and Ontong do not like criticism of any nature, whether it is about the players they handle, their coaching methods or choice of players. Now O'Donnell has been caught out and it is a pity he has got away so lightly as a "severe reprimand". Gauteng being docked points might have stopped the arrogant swagger he has adopted the last couple of years.