ICC News: Restructuring the ICC, BCCI Influence & more

[sifter132]

Sounds like he's on the right track, but man, what a bitch this will be to implement. Who's going to want to give up their piece of power for the greater good?? A board that actually has cricket's best interests in mind would be a revolutionary thing indeed.

 

[teamindia]

Another Bully by BCCI, After the non-participation of Indian players in the Lankan League that Sri lankans decided to postponed the event to next year.

Here we go. If SLC cannot run a league without Indian players they better apply to be affiliated to BCCI just like other state boards

ICC news: Woolf report looks to shake up old boys' club | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo

Time to dig this thread..

Nothing gonna change. Some of them are too radican for any of the permanent members to accept. Unless a coalition of countries can match or exceed the revenue generated by India nothing is gonna happen. No board is going to grant associates with more power. Why would you seriously give power to countries where no one watches cricket and they get paid by ICC??

Sounds like he's on the right track, but man, what a bitch this will be to implement. Who's going to want to give up their piece of power for the greater good?? A board that actually has cricket's best interests in mind would be a revolutionary thing indeed.

+1 waste of money IMO. Just yet another report that is going to be shelved.

 

[War]

Highlight the ones you see that are too radical, teamindia and please don't give me another nationalistic rant on why India have a financial monopoly over world cricket is good.

 

[War]

ICC news: BCCI against key points in Woolf report | India Cricket News | ESPN Cricinfo

No surprises to see them being the first to oppose that report smh..

 

[teamindia]

Highlight the ones you see that are too radical, teamindia and please don't give me another nationalistic rant on why India have a financial monopoly over world cricket is good.

1. One vote for one member. So a country like Brazil with no cricketers will have an equal say in running the game like a country like India which has a mad cricket following and generates most of the money. If people thought the current ICC was political, imagine 100 countries doing the same.

2. Involvement in FTP. I think that should be done on a bilateral basis rather than making it mandatory in FTP. Probably send A teams instead. I do not remember FIFA sending the England team with Beckham to India to play a series. If anything ICC is being better than many other international organisations by doing a lot for associates including reserving spots for them in the world cup. And BCCI dare I say sacrifices its players to help many boards financially. BCCI can afford to not send any team to NZ (not much NZ-Ind cricket rivalry, usually boring, time difference between games, no money for BCCI, NZ does not have any clout in ICC, NZ cricketers will not accept their board stopping them from IPL) but they do and NZ gets a lot of revenue because of this.

3. Money on a need basis. How do they define need here? A country like NZ, Ireland, West Indies is always going to need money. If BCCI decides to raise salary for its own players then they will need money. So is ICC going to stop BCCI from raising pay .

4. Independent committie. What will be its mandate and power? Should India give all its financial dealings to the ICC and expect them to be good to them This is like the 1800's when India was the biggest manufacturer of Cotton but was not allowed to make clothes. This had to be shipped all the way to England. Then England would spin them in their mills and ship them back to India

5. What difference does it make really for an independent organisation? They are not going to be able to ban India even if they give them a middle finger. Banning them would destroy the entire ICC economy. The only option is to get another financial power house. ICC has tried to popularise cricket in US and failed miserably. The other option is China where the govt. controls everything.

So yes the woolf report was written by a guy living in fantasy world (Woolf in wonderland )

 

[War]

1. One vote for one member. So a country like Brazil with no cricketers will have an equal say in running the game like a country like India which has a mad cricket following and generates most of the money. If people thought the current ICC was political, imagine 100 countries doing the same.

Well yes such a scenario should not happen given the dynamics of the cricket world in which one only has a small core group of countries that follow it.

2. Involvement in FTP. I think that should be done on a bilateral basis rather than making it mandatory in FTP. Probably send A teams instead. I do not remember FIFA sending the England team with Beckham to India to play a series. If anything ICC is being better than many other international organisations by doing a lot for associates including reserving spots for them in the world cup. And BCCI dare I say sacrifices its players to help many boards financially. BCCI can afford to not send any team to NZ (not much NZ-Ind cricket rivalry, usually boring, time difference between games, no money for BCCI, NZ does not have any clout in ICC, NZ cricketers will not accept their board stopping them from IPL) but they do and NZ gets a lot of revenue because of this.

Firstly yes i have never been a plan of a long-term FTP. The recent one which runs from 2012-2020 is sort of ridiculous. The television broadcasters in cricket and world sport have too much of a say in these things at the moment.

However what are you insinuating by "BCCI cannot afford to send any team to NZ"?

So what if their is not much cricket rivalry with the two teams etc?. Last i checked the essential fabric of international cricket was against everyone home away - not picking and chosing opposition based on strength just because the board can't get big bucks out of the series.

3. Money on a need basis. How do they define need here? A country like NZ, Ireland, West Indies is always going to need money. If BCCI decides to raise salary for its own players then they will need money. So is ICC going to stop BCCI from raising pay .

Which specific point of the wolf report are you refering to here?

4. Independent committie. What will be its mandate and power? Should India give all its financial dealings to the ICC and expect them to be good to them This is like the 1800's when India was the biggest manufacturer of Cotton but was not allowed to make clothes. This had to be shipped all the way to England. Then England would spin them in their mills and ship them back to India

5. What difference does it make really for an independent organisation? They are not going to be able to ban India even if they give them a middle finger. Banning them would destroy the entire ICC economy. The only option is to get another financial power house. ICC has tried to popularise cricket in US and failed miserably. The other option is China where the govt. controls everything.

So yes the woolf report was written by a guy living in fantasy world (Woolf in wonderland )

Fact is this. The responsibilities of decision making that the ICC CHIEF EXECUTIVES' COMMITTEE (10 national boards) has needs to be redirected to the ICC EXECUTIVE BOARD & IDI BOARD OF DIRECTORS (President & CEO) as it is in football & other sporting governing bodies.

The boys club factor at the ICC and India's power in the game is continuously leading to bad decision being created in the game.

But in a lot of ways its useless argument and the more I look at world cricket problem, this post by a Indian poster earlier in this thread resonates more and more:

http://www.planetcricket.org/forums/2098012-post3.html

The problems afflicting the ICC are quite insoluble. To state what one already knows, the levers of power are now in the hands of the South Asian bloc, a part of the world where cricket is synonymous with money, sleaze, and corruption.

How Sharad Pawar, a man implicated in multifarious corruption scandals in India, could become the President of the governing council of cricket baffles me. When the person at the very top is corrupt to the bones, it's no wonder that there is mismanagement, inefficiency, and prostitution of cricket for money.

As long as the reins are in the hands of some of the filthiest politicians of the world and as long as politics continues to corrode the fabric of the administration, don't expect any changes in the way cricket is run. ICC is the only sporting body which is not actually a sporting body, but a concocted conglomeration of some hardcore politicians like Pawar or Srinivasan who are only into this due to the monetary appeal of cricket. Check their rise if you want to clean up the mess.

I just can't imagine someone like Sharad Pawar becoming the supreme authority of the cricketing world! Since boards will still have their say over the nomination of the President, the rise of tainted individuals will not be precluded in any way.

Also, as cricket's biggest market is the sub-continent, the Asian bloc will still continue to enjoy the upper hand in cricket related affairs, for the sake of keeping the coffers filled. We've literally fallen into a black hole from which there is no way out.

 

[War]

ICC news: Haroon Lorgat rules out window for IPL | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo

At least the heads of the ICC are smart enough to realize they can't give the IPL an official window. But they still need to confront the BCCI to have the IPL revamped.

World cricket and the ICC can't bury its head in the sand and say year after year that they won't give the IPL a window without actually trying to control it, when every year some country (mainly the weak financial countries like windies, nz and sri lanka) players will face series scenario's where they have to choose ipl vs international duty.

 

[War]

Sharda Ugra describes this DRS mess and the stupidity of the BCCI here best:

ICC news: ICC calls for universal application of DRS | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo

Over the next few days, the ICC's executive board - made up of the heads of every Full Member board - will once again jockey over the DRS issue as if it were as complex as finding the God particle in the Hadron Collider. It is not. The DRS is actually an arm-wrestling contest with three contestants: the Full Members who want it, the Indians who don't and the ICC's bean-counters, who would love it used but at someone else's expense. It is an annual, repetitive - and unedifying - skirmish.

The BCCI will hold its ground because it is the game's cash machine. It will now seek the favour of its Asian brethren; in exchange there will be a one-day series, a tour to India, support on other ICC issues. The Full Members who want the DRS have until now neither stood up to the BCCI's bullying nor played the political card smartly themselves. The ICC has not taken ownership or control of an idea that came to them originally from Duncan Fletcher, who now ironically coaches the Indians. The moment the DRS enters any set of playing conditions, it becomes the ruling body's responsibility. To turn away, mumbling about costs and bilateral relations, or to quibble about its finer points, is downright disingenuous.

Were the DRS easily available to all nations, it would make the case for universal application stronger. Were it made universally mandatory, what would the BCCI do? Stop playing international cricket? Secede from the ICC? Cut off ties with England, South Africa and Australia? It's time to sort it out, once and for all.

 

[War]

ICC news: Universal DRS falls at board table | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo

*SIGHS*...As expected the BCCI continues to be the bully and the ICC continues to act like pussies.

God i hate it how world sports are being corrupted by these executives who never played sports due to greed, sleaze and money.

 

[War]

MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture: Tony Greig implores India to govern for the world game | Cricket News | Marylebone Cricket Club | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[sifter132]

ICC news: Universal DRS falls at board table | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo

*SIGHS*...As expected the BCCI continues to be the bully and the ICC continues to act like pussies.

God i hate it how world sports are being corrupted by these executives who never played sports due to greed, sleaze and money.

I agree with that...

Anyway, there's 2 real problems here - 1 that India can control votes just by offering random ODI series (or other perks) to the poor countries...

But the 2nd problem relates specifically for DRS - and for that the ICC have to cop a lot of the blame rather than just railing on India's reluctance to use it. The ICC would have solved a LOT of the angst about DRS by agreeing to fund the system themselves. Poor boards like Sri Lanka or West Indies can't afford to pay for all the tech required, but the ICC won't help out.

Why that is I don't know, there was mention in that article of trying to find a sponsor to fund DRS - good idea to me, but the fact that they skipped over the issue in the meeting so quickly tells me that no one actually wants to do anything about it. Bottom line is: ICC is happy passing the costs along to boards and as a bonus they keep BCCI happy by not 'forcing' them into DRS, BCCI is happy there is no DRS, and the poor members are happy because they are getting free stuff from BCCI for voting against DRS. What a mess

 

[War]

I agree with that...

Anyway, there's 2 real problems here - 1 that India can control votes just by offering random ODI series (or other perks) to the poor countries...

But the 2nd problem relates specifically for DRS - and for that the ICC have to cop a lot of the blame rather than just railing on India's reluctance to use it. The ICC would have solved a LOT of the angst about DRS by agreeing to fund the system themselves. Poor boards like Sri Lanka or West Indies can't afford to pay for all the tech required, but the ICC won't help out.

Why that is I don't know, there was mention in that article of trying to find a sponsor to fund DRS - good idea to me, but the fact that they skipped over the issue in the meeting so quickly tells me that no one actually wants to do anything about it. Bottom line is: ICC is happy passing the costs along to boards and as a bonus they keep BCCI happy by not 'forcing' them into DRS, BCCI is happy there is no DRS, and the poor members are happy because they are getting free stuff from BCCI for voting against DRS. What a mess

This article below from last year on cricinfo broke down the DRS issue the best:

Decision Review System: Why there is a need to discuss DRS in its present form | Cricket Features | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo

ICC wasting money on trying to develop non-test playing nations uselessly as i always say.

Scrap that budget and pay for DRS or split the costs 50/50 with the boards (especially the weak financial boards like WI, NZ, SRI, PAK.

Its best they do that until they can find a sponsor, because its a continous insult to cricket stats that we have simulatenous series being played with different rules.

With regards to India as Tony Greig pointed in his speech, i think the heart of reason behind's the BCCI's behaviour since they became so financially rich is this:

"We can huff and puff as much as we like and have all sorts of external reports," Greig continued, "but this situation can only be resolved by India accepting that the spirit of cricket is more important than generating billions of dollars; it's more important than turning out multi-millionaire players; and it's more important than getting square with Australia and England for their bully-boy tactics towards India over the years. It's ironic that the world, including India, rightly worships at the Nelson Mandela altar because of his conciliatory attitude but then India eschews his approach by indulging in a little pay back."

Personally i always pride myself as a someone who knows cricket history well and i'm struggling to recall what the then ICC/MCC which was controlled by England ever did to bully India or any sub-continent countries in the past on a cricket basis?. This i hate to say seems like a inherent race agenda to "get back at the white man" - which really shouldn't be in sports.

 

[War]

ICC news: DRS won't be forced on India - Dave Richardson | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo

Terrible start to his tenure by Richardson, what a stupid thing to say. You think if FIFA introduces goal-line technology tomorrow that FIFA won't be forcing everyone to do it, Mr Richardson??

You are the ICC - cricket's governing body - revamp you structure and give your self real authority and stop being bullied by the BCCI's money, sleaze and corruption.

 

[War]

ICC news: Alan Isaac wants ICC credibility | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo

Good ambitions by the new ICC president.

 

[War]

Ian Chappell : Ian Chappell on the unwieldy international cricket schedule | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo

Big Ian is right here. This is such a dumb scheduling problem caused by BCCI bullying of the world game and other nations failing to collectively stand up to them due to the money they can get from the BCCI.

Test, ODI & T20s can co-exist quite easily. But T20 leageus are getting out of hand because the ICC has no clear coherent schedule for world cricket, in which the amount of T20s are under control.