UCBSA PRESIDENT'S REPORT - PERCY SONN

It is a very humbling experience to address you today as the unopposed President of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, in this the year in which Africa will host the ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time.

In my capacity as Cricket Administrator over the past three decades, there have been many highs as well as trying times. These events have paved the way, for making it possible for me to stand here before you today as your President in these eventful, pulsating and progressive times in Africa. We are witnessing for example the:

The formation of African Union
The establishment of the New Partnership for Africa's Development
The 2003 World Cup and its preparations
Opening of new cricket areas in Africa such as Morocco
Nigerians Associate membership moved by us
UCBSA's vice chairmanship of the African Cricket Union, and
My appointment to the highly respected Audit Committee of the ICC is certainly the biggest honor I have ever been awarded.

For this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

On 24 July 2000 I delivered an address as Acting President of UCBSA reviewing a year that stood out as a difficult one. I then suggested and committed myself to help in attaining the following goals and I quote

"Keeping the standard of our senior team amongst the highest in the world",
"Confirming to widen the base of the game in the country",
"Deepening the transformation process until we are confident that we reflect, in a dynamic way, the values and aspirations of a non-racial South Africa", and
"Rallying together to prepare for a successful World Cup".

This was a time during which South African Society called for these goals to be striven towards. Today it asks from us to do the same.

At our National Transformation Review Conference at Kwa Maritane Mr Gerald Majola our CEO delivered his mission for the future of South African cricket to a standing ovation in July 2001. The 150 cricket people present embraced this vision, which include those set by me as goals in the previous year. All of these form part of our transformation charter.

The delegates at that conference indicated then that they sought to internalize transformation, genuine non-racialism and representivity as the values and tools to make cricket dynamic in the 21st century. I quote from my Presidential Report of 4 August 2001.

"Transformation in its most dynamic sense is at the core of the organization "

Then we had our Consolidation Conference at Kieviets Kroon the other day where we accepted our Transformation Monitoring Committees' recommendation, and made a pledge to South Africa. A copy of the text of the pledge is available for those of you who have not seen it. This pledge augments the Transformation Charter as well as the pledge we made to the Nation in November 1998 at Newlands Cape Town.

These instruments remain the guiding documents for the future of South African Cricket. A further product of our Consolidation Conference is the adoption and consolidation of the restructuring of South African Cricket. The South African Revenue Services, Consultants, CEO's and all affiliates helped us in putting together a business plan in terms of which restructing of SA cricket had to take place to conform to our transformation charter's thrust of financial security viability etc. This led to the incorporation of the revenue creating section of South African Cricket. Our business plan has been completed and implemented. Cricket SA Pty Ltd is now a reality. Our affiliates have followed in restructuring their affairs in a similar vein.

The final conference on the structure of competitions will take place later in this month and I look forward to useful debates and a dynamic outcome, which will again display the unity we have reached in everything we do for South African Cricket.

Our sponsors have remained loyal, supportive and have become real business partners supporting us in our attempt to become the best in the world. We cannot thank them enough for this kind of support they have given us- materially and spiritually.

Our National Team remains our pride and our biggest asset. The joys and disappointments of the year under review is set out with graphic detail in the Annual Report to which I wish to refer you. We have struck a hiccup or two but I congratulate you for supporting the Council in its steps it took to identify the problems, and to remedy the situation. Our team remains tops in the world, lauded and loved by South Africans and respected by their peers. These heroes have shown, their commitment to making South Africa proud of them.

Our former President Mr Nelson Mandela once said that the media is to a society like a mirror to a person. One looks into it to see how one is perceived by others and not how one sees oneself. The mirror sometimes reflects uncomfortable warts, which may have become acceptable to one, but really looks ugly to others. One tends to have distaste in the disclosure of these warts. We will however never be able to work on these warts unless the mirror shows them to us.

I once again say that UCBSA and I, as long as I am connected to it, shall defend with all we have the freedom of the media to do its work in terms of its regulatory frameworks. We will also always co-operate with the media and are optimally transparent. The media is the media of South African society - it reflects the attitudes and values of South African society and we are the cricket administrators of South African Society who administers cricket in terms of the attitudes and values of South African Society.

I especially want to thank our Council for the vibrant debates we have had and the spirit of openness, tolerance and sincerity displayed. I sometimes found it difficult with a 17-person council, but the manner in which our council has regulated itself has been a great comfort to me. The Council's support for me and our CEO have been excellent although the mandates they may have given us from time to time some what tested out mettle.

Our financial affairs are healthy and the administration efficient. I leave it to the treasurer and the CEO to elaborate on this in their presentations and annual reports.

We have always realized that cricket forms part of society and that society's tensions will be represented in cricket. We have internalized all our Government's visions and policies into ours. We fully support our Government.

The UCBSA's wishes to thank the SA Government for all the support they have given us.

We want to ask our MEC's to move closer to our affiliates and assist us to co-ordinate and deal with the fast growing interest in cricket in previously untapped areas.

We expect the World Cup to bring about a deluge of interest in cricket that current cricketers alone will not be able to manage without assistance from government structures.

We have a World Cup on our hands. Dr Ali Bacher and his team have worked around the clock on our behalf to ensure a huge success next year. Government has contributed generously to our efforts. We made a presentation to the ICC (and the world), to the Cabinet the Sports Ministry, to UCBSA Council, and to the Consolidation Conference. All will agree that the plans are excellent and to judge by implementation thus far, we are heading for an earth shattering experience that will put South Africa and Africa in homes of millions around the world. President Mbeki has called for a spirit of volunteerism - we will comply with this call and ask all South Africans to heed this call and help to make this as memorable for our country as it should be. During my address in August 2000 I mentioned how United South Africa was in its disappointment in not securing the football World Cup 2000. Now I want to say that in staging a successful 2003 Cricket World Cup we in cricket, together with all South Africans will show that we can stage a World Cup and thereby assist our comrades in football in their efforts to secure Football World Cup 2010 for South Africa.

In conclusion I want to say that what comforts me most about the last season was the decision everyone at the Consolidation Conference took to back each other, to trust each other. This shows that South African Cricket has come of age after more that 100 years of prejudice and division. Transformation is now part of our management ideal - representivity is a goal we will soon attain - mechanisms employed towards that goal, and included in the ideal, will change from time to time because the society we live in is a dynamic one and UCBSA is a dynamic body. The past is good enough to teach lessons but progress will be retarded if we spend a disproptionate time looking over our shoulders, rather that keeping our eyes on our goals contained in our guiding instruments and live up to our pledge namely:

One team, one plan, one voice towards a successful World Cup 2003, and victorious South Africa at the end of it.

© United Cricket Board of South Africa