New chief executive a cricket man, all-round

Lorgat capable of ICC juggling act

Ken Borland

April 4, 2008

	Haroon Lorgat has balanced politics and cricketing necessities, a telling quality for a future ICC chief executive © Getty Images

Haroon Lorgat, 47, comes to the ICC with his most telling qualification being that he somehow managed to maintain some degree of selectorial integrity while operating within the confines and bizarreness of South African cricket's politically-directed affirmative action policies. Lorgat headed South Africa's selection panel from 2004 to 2007 when the team did not have the services of the maturing bunch of stars they do now, but their record was still impressive.

Lorgat brought stability to selection after the often puzzling reign of Omar Henry, but it was a pity Lorgat and Graeme Smith could never quite hit it off. Their relationship was littered with arguments over whether players should be chosen when not 100% fit, and it all came to a messy head in Cape Town in November 2006 when TV cameras caught their argument at the toss in full and embarrassing technicolour.

But Lorgat's tenure showed that he could juggle both politics and cricketing necessities and that is surely a telling quality when it comes to heading up the ICC. Players called him a 'liar', administrators said he was 'right', and fans didn't know what to make of him, which is about as good as you can hope for when your brief is, basically, 'pick this team but tell them it's for this reason, them that it's for the other reason, and the others that it's none of their business.'

But his time as convenor of selectors represents only a small part of his involvement in cricket. Lorgat served on the 2003 World Cup organising committee and was also treasurer of Cricket South Africa, an obvious appointment given his background. He completed his accounting articles with Coopers & Lybrand, before going it alone for eight years. He joined Ernst & Young as a senior partner in 2002 and last year set up Kapela Investments with five other associates.

The CSA chief executive, Gerald Majola, goes back a long way with Lorgat: "We made our debut together for Eastern Province. I was dropped straight away because I scored nought and one, but Haroon scored 49.

"We played together from childhood, our first tournament together was the Under-19s in Cape Town in 1975. He was a stylish batsman and a good bowler too, more in the Polly mould in that he was containing and would always bowl a good line and length. He was a top-order batsman and medium-pace bowler, one of our best allrounders in fact."

Majola's backing was similarly effusive for Lorgat's position as the ICC's chief executive. "I have no doubt he will make a success of the ICC job, he has very good business acumen and he was Cricket South Africa's treasurer for a while. He will do a good job because he understands the game and is passionate about it."

Lorgat's heritage, a South African of Indian descent, is another reason why the ICC seem in a rush to pick him as their new CEO. A thoughtful, level-headed man, Lorgat will be expected to bridge the divide between East and West in cricket's corridors of power.

Currently based in Cape Town, Lorgat was a left-hand batsman and a right-arm seamer who scored 2813 runs and took 191 wickets in 76 first-class matches. He is married with a son and a daughter.

© Cricinfo

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