A former Grey High School pupil will be bringing years of business leadership in the broadcasting industry to the pitch as he steps into his new role of independent director of Cricket SA.
After 14 years holding various roles at MultiChoice South Africa, including that of CEO, Mark Rayner, 46, will bring his business acumen to the table while getting the opportunity to live out his passion for a sport he fell in love with as a boy growing up in Gqeberha.
After starting out with mini-cricket at primary school, he later earned a spot at provincial level, but admitted to being a bigger fan of the sport than a skilled player.
“I attended a strong cricket school in Grey High, but I was sadly a very average schoolboy cricketer.
“I played at university level where we had some success for Rhodes, and I played a little bit for Border on the fringes of the squad where I took part in some warm-up games and was part of their U21 team as well.”
He later played premier league club cricket in the Border and Gauteng leagues.
But besides his contributions on the pitch, the lifelong fan of the sport now hopes to make valuable contributions to cricket in SA.
“A lot of good has happened over the past 30 years.
“My view is that cricket vastly undersells what it’s done with development, its structures across the country and its whole transformation programme over the years.”
He believes grassroots development, particularly in underprivileged communities, is crucial in further growing the sport across SA.
“The board are really passionate about building on what’s already there, and there are some amazing people in Cricket SA’s structures who work tirelessly to give every kid a chance.
“I wish CSA could just tell their story a bit better to showcase some of the amazing work that the organisation has done.”
From a business perspective, Rayner hopes his background as a chartered accountant, his leadership experience at MultiChoice, and the various financial positions he held at the Bidvest Group before joining the broadcast company, will serve him well as he helps to right the ship at CSA.
“I wanted to try to help a little bit around the financial sustainability and strength of the business.
“CSA was in a very healthy situation a few years ago, and it’s had a few bad years for various reasons, so now it just needs some stability and sound foundations to build on.
“A healthy financial plan and a healthy set of reserves make it more plausible to do great development work and to strengthen the game, so I wanted to add a bit of value to that.”
As part of the CSA financial committee, Rayner said they had developed a business plan that was realistic and achievable, and could ensure long-term sustainability.
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