Play Van der Wath at your peril

2008-04-20 22:20

Johannesburg - Cricket South Africa boss Norman Arendse apparently threatened "repercussions" against the Eagles franchise if they allowed former Protea allrounder Johan van der Wath to be picked for last Friday's Pro20 semi-final.

According to Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Sondag, Arendse made a phone call to Leon Crawley, who is the Free State Cricket president and majority shareholder in the Eagles franchise and said there would be "repercussions" if they allowed Van der Wath to play.

The allrounder left South Africa last year to play for the "rebel" Indian Cricket League but had asked permission to play since he returned.

Before the telephone call, Johan van Heerden, CEO of Free State, said that they were going to pick Van der Wath because "he is a brilliant player and a match winner."

"We can choose him on a pay per performance basis. We asked Cricket South Africa for permission and after 48 hours they never came back to us to tell us if they had a problem or not."

According to Tony Irish, CEO of the South African Cricketers Association, this is in line with Saca's proposal to CSA for players involved in the ICL.

"If Johan was picked on a pay per performance basis, then it is precisely in line with our proposals and in line with what other countries have already decided for players playing in the ICL," Irish told Sondag.

The Eagles eventually backed down and did not include him in their side and lost the semi-final to the Dolphins on Friday night.

Van der Wath and several other South Africans who played in the ICL are also involved in a court case after they were barred from playing county cricket as well because of their involvement in the rebel league.

- SAPA