Prince resigns as players' association head

Ashwell Prince: 'Someone who was at the meeting we held last week has leaked [details of] the discussions to the news media' © Cricinfo Ltd.

Ashwell Prince has resigned as president of the South African Cricketers' association (SACA) following a report in Rapport, an Afrikaans newspaper, that 30 cricketers had signed a memorandum calling for the eradication of the quota system in South African cricket.

Prince, who was currently touring India with the South African A squad, alleged that details of the meeting between Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the cricketers had been leaked to the media.

"I trusted people and that confidentiality has been broken. I was betrayed and used", Prince told Die Burger. "I feel strongly that SACA had nothing to do with this. But the fact that it could have been a player, or players, made me realise that I cannot represent people whom I cannot trust"

"My standpoint about certain aspects of CSA's policy has never been a secret. Those who conspired against me should have known it," Prince said. "Someone who was at the meeting we held last week has leaked [details of] the discussions to the news media."

Prince's resignation was the latest in a period of off-field turbulence in South African cricket: Jacques Kallis' resignation as vice-captain of the national team following his omission from the ICC World Twenty20, disciplinary hearings involving Mark Boucher and Loots Bosman, and Andrew Hall's retirement from international cricket.