Rangeela
International Coach
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2003
- Online Cricket Games Owned
-
The ECB has delayed making a decision on whether to tour Zimbabwe next October until the end of February. It had hoped to decide this week, but a lack of any definite instruction from the British government and continuing pressure from the ICC has led to the postponement.
Last Wednesday, the board announced that the management meeting this coming Thursday would provide a once-and-for-all ruling. But this was done in the belief that no financial penalties would result from the decision. The ICC, in the form of Ehsan Mani, its president, have been at pains to point out that this is not the case. Mani has repeatedly insisted that the only circumstances under which tours could be cancelled was if a government specifically banned a team from travelling.
Speaking on BBC television yesterday, Tim Lamb, the ECB's chief executive, implied that the government's letter last Friday was as close to an instruction not to tour as is possible without actually saying so. That does not appear to wash with the ICC, but there will be many discussions in the coming weeks, and ultimately it will come down to the detailed interpretation of the letter.
Wisden Comment by Martin Williamson
The ECB's desire to avoid the last-minute shambles which occurred during the World Cup is admirable, but it reckoned without the intransigence of the ICC. One of the issues is cash, the other is a cultural difference.
Many of the powerbrokers in the ICC are from backgrounds where the state and the cricket boards are intertwined. In Pakistan, Mani's homeland, the board are effectively appointed and operate at the behest of the country's president. There, and in several other countries, the whims of the government and their boards are one and the same. In England it is not so straightforward.
In the kind of democracy operating in Britain, the government does not ban people - sportsmen, businessmen, whoever - from visiting countries. But that appears to be beyond the understanding of the ICC, and will probably lead to stalemate.
? Wisden Cricinfo Ltd
Last Wednesday, the board announced that the management meeting this coming Thursday would provide a once-and-for-all ruling. But this was done in the belief that no financial penalties would result from the decision. The ICC, in the form of Ehsan Mani, its president, have been at pains to point out that this is not the case. Mani has repeatedly insisted that the only circumstances under which tours could be cancelled was if a government specifically banned a team from travelling.
Speaking on BBC television yesterday, Tim Lamb, the ECB's chief executive, implied that the government's letter last Friday was as close to an instruction not to tour as is possible without actually saying so. That does not appear to wash with the ICC, but there will be many discussions in the coming weeks, and ultimately it will come down to the detailed interpretation of the letter.
Wisden Comment by Martin Williamson
The ECB's desire to avoid the last-minute shambles which occurred during the World Cup is admirable, but it reckoned without the intransigence of the ICC. One of the issues is cash, the other is a cultural difference.
Many of the powerbrokers in the ICC are from backgrounds where the state and the cricket boards are intertwined. In Pakistan, Mani's homeland, the board are effectively appointed and operate at the behest of the country's president. There, and in several other countries, the whims of the government and their boards are one and the same. In England it is not so straightforward.
In the kind of democracy operating in Britain, the government does not ban people - sportsmen, businessmen, whoever - from visiting countries. But that appears to be beyond the understanding of the ICC, and will probably lead to stalemate.
? Wisden Cricinfo Ltd
