Several speculative newspaper reports recently named the Titans CEO, Dr. Jacques Faul, as the favourite candidate to be recruited as successor for Barend van Graan, the retiring CEO of the Blue Bulls Company.

At Loftus Versfeld the disappointment was huge when Faul officially announced that he was not available for the position. But at SuperSport Park there were joy and satisfaction. After all, Titans officials and his cricket colleagues realize that in Faul they probably have South Africa’s best sports administrator at their disposal.

This was not the first time the popular Titans CEO was hunted by rugby bosses. There were other efforts, like when the Sharks wanted to attract him to Durban a few years ago.

Titans supporters will, however, be grateful that Faul is for now loyal to this cricket franchise where he achieved unprecedented success since 2013.

This born and bred son of Northwest, who grew up in Klerksdorp, began his involvement in cricket administration when he was still a young prosecutor in the legal department of Correctional Services in his hometown.

He first excelled as a player where he represented Northwest (previously Western Transvaal), initially at junior level and later in the senior team for almost ten years.

After his playing career, he coached cricket and also started the first cricket academy in Northwest. His talent has been spotted at a young age. He was still in his late twenties when he was elected for the first time to the Northwest Cricket Board.

“In my heart I will probably always primarily be a cricket coach. But since those early years of my involvement with a small union, I learned quickly to plan and improvise to make things happen,” Faul told Rekord.

It was his ability to improvise and think outside the box which helped him to be appointed as CEO of the Northwest Cricket Union at the youthful age of 35.

Meanwhile, throughout his career, he continued with extramural studies. He eventually obtained an MBA degree with a cricket theme and last year he successfully completed his doctorate degree in Economic Management Science – also with a dissertation on sport management.

After a short term as acting CEO of Cricket South Africa, Faul took over the reins at SuperSport Park. Since then, the Titans did not have their equal on the local cricket front. There were eight domestic trophies – including double titles the past three seasons; four consecutive awards as union with the best administration in South Africa; three ‘Coach of the Year’ awards from Cricket SA and even national awards for the groundsman.

This success on the field has also resulted in the Titans producing a stream of new players for the Proteas.

Then, of course, there is the commercial success where the Titans’ revenue through sponsors tripled since Faul’s arrival at SuperSport Park.

While he is praised for the outstanding way in which he manages the Titans, Faul is reluctant to claim too much credit for himself.

“When I was younger, I was much more results-driven. Nowadays, I realize that you should rather concentrate on the inspiration and development of your human capital. Success will be a natural consequence if I could, in a positive way, lead and inspire the people who work under me,” Faul explained his current working method.

The domestic season has already started and at SuperSport Park it is no secret that the team still strive to achieve the hat-trick in local tournaments. Meanwhile the Titans will this week also leave for the United Arab Emirates to play in the Abu Dhabi T20 Trophy tournament.

Whatever the testimonial will be at the end of the coming season, fans of the Titans can be sure that their team and their franchise still stand under the best possible management that are available in South Africa.

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