With reference to CSA withdrawing the SA U19 Cricket World Cup Team captaincy of David Teeger after his remarks supporting Israeli soldiers the debate continuess to the merits and demerits therof.
Even I, walking the thin line between the two sides, have come in for some uncomfortable questions from across the board after I questioned Cricket South Africa for their ‘insensitive tweet’ from the Official Proteas X Account that said; “The SA U19 team are ready for war during the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup on home turf.” after the announcement that CSA had decided to strip Teeger of the captaincy following his remarks supporting the Israeli soldires AND after Teeger’s subsequent clearing of any wrongdoing in an official enquiry. That Tweet has since been edited with no references to war.
Timeline:
22 October 2023: When Teeger, an 18-year-old matric pupil and head boy of King Edward VII school, dedicated his Rising Star Award to the young soldiers in Israel in his impromptu acceptance speech at the Absa Jewish Achievers Awards on 22 October to rapturous applause, he had no idea of the career-threatening backlash that would follow.
5 December 2023: David Teeger, is cleared of breaching provisions of the codes of conduct of Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the Central Gauteng Lions (Lions). This determination was released by Advocate Wim Trengove SC on 5 December following the independent inquiry he was enlisted to conduct by the two cricketing bodies.
12 January 2024: CSA decides that David Teeger should be relieved of the captaincy for the tournament. According to CSA: “We have been advised that protests related to the war in Gaza can be anticipated at the venues for the tournament. We have also been advised that they are likely to focus on the position of the SA Under-19 (SA U19) captain, David Teeger, and that there is a risk that they could result in conflict or even violence, including between rival groups of protestors.”
SO, what happened in between Teeger being cleared of any wrongdoing and 12 January 2024?
One would expect that Teeger had a powerful friend in Aron “Ali” Bacher – a former South African Test cricket captain and an administrator of the United Cricket Board of South Africa. Bacher married Shira Teeger in 1965. Bacher’s grand nephew and 2022 King Edward VII School (KES) head boy Dean Bacher and Grade 11 student David Teeger were batting all-rounders. Both were the only current students at KES to have full sporting and academic colours. Both are sons of prominent Jewish cricket players, with Bacher’s father, Adam, having played for the Proteas between 1996 and 2005, and Teeger’s father, James, having kept wicket for Transvaal during the 1992/1993 season.
Adam Bacher is the nephew of Ali Bacher.
It is probably a given to speculate that Ali would have brought great weight to bear on the present CSA board to NOT censure David Teeger in anyway.
Ali Bacher was not a friend of apartheid but still believed that apartheid would not end in his lifetime, and fought back against the system by encouraging tours by “rebel” teams from Sri Lanka, England, West Indies and Australia during the 1980s. At the same time he recognised that South African cricket had no long-term future unless cricketers in the non-white communities were encouraged to develop their potential, and he organised mass coaching clinics and development programs in the black townships.
When apartheid began to collapse in 1990, Bacher immediately set out to form one body to oversee all cricket in South Africa: he contacted Steve Tshwete, the head of the ANC’s sports desk, to help get the parties to agree on a unified body. Tshwete soon forged an agreement and the two men became friends, travelling to London together in 1991 to successfully apply for South Africa’s re-admission to the International Cricket Council.
But, like Israel and Teeger, Bacher also appears to have now found himself on the ‘wrong side of history‘ as Teeger loses his captaincy and the ANC Government expresses their non-support for a state and it’s people that used to support the struggle against apartheid.
Many of our cricketers have publicly expressed support for Palestine and her people and not been singled out and here one must say that it is probably because of an official government line that seeks to support and reward Palestine and her people for their support during apartheid.
What that means for the ongoing prosperity of any Jewish people in South Africa is that they will probably experience many roadblocks along the way and eventually be disheartened enough to leave the South Africa forever.
The vexing question is; “What should CSA have done to protect their Captain elect and his team?”
The difficult answer is; “CSA should have removed every player who had ever publicly expressed support for Israel or Palestine, thereby removing any REASON for any protests to take place whilst the World Cup takes place in South Africa!”
Kickstart
On the morning of 11/11/11 South Africa needed 111 runs to win at 11:11 – South Africa vs Australia. This coincidence occurred during the first Test between South Africa and Australia at Cape Town. At 11:11, on 11/11/11, South Africa were 125 for 1 needing a further 111 runs for a win.
Freeze Queen
India: You have two cows. You create a new country to banish all your people who might eat them.