New UCB president promises to back club cricket

Ray Mali, the newly elected president of United Cricket Board, has promised South Africans improved administration of their game, a determined effort to breathe life into club cricket, and a more sophisticated approach to racial transformation.

Mali, 66, was elected unopposed at the UCB annual meeting in Pretoria on Saturday. He succeeded Percy Sonn, who had been president since 2000. Sonn did not stand for re-election and will attempt to further his career in cricket administration at international level.

Rob Kurz was re-elected unopposed as vice-president and John Blair fought off a challenge from Haroon Lorgat to be re-elected as treasurer.

"I am very conscious of the fact that I come from a cricket culture that stretches back more than 100 years, but that was marginalised by apartheid for nearly five decades," Mali said. "You will excuse me if my cricketing ancestors share this moment with us all, because I would not be here had they not given me a heritage as rich in cricket as you will find anywhere in the world."

Mali committed the UCB to "giving equal opportunities to everyone who wants to play cricket," and to the development of South Africa's ailing club cricket structures. "The key to equal opportunity lies in capacity building, which is the cornerstone of our transformation policy," Mali said. "We do not believe any more in throwing people into the deep end in order to make transformation statistics look impressive.

"Club cricket is a microcosm of the UCB, and yet over the past few years we have tended to neglect its development in favour of schools and first-class cricket. We have seen a widening gap between the two, which club cricket can fill. There is also a dearth of good administrators coming out of club cricket, particularly in the townships and we are going to address this."

Reflecting on his time at the helm, Sonn said "the Hansie Cronje saga ... questioned the values of the game that we love so much". Cronje, who died in a plane crash on June 1 2002, was banned for life by the UCB after his involvement in match-fixing was exposed.

"I believe that it was the transparent and swift reaction of the UCB that set an example to world cricket on how to deal with this crisis, and how to prevent it happening again," said Sonn.

Sonn added that South Africa's successful hosting of the 2003 World Cup was a highlight of his career. "The International Cricket Council described this as the biggest and best World Cup ever held," said Sonn, "and this is due to the enormous amount of work that was put in by all the UCB structures."