The ICC Equation

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Now that the Government of India has disallowed the Indian cricket team’s tour of Pakistan, the relationship between the India and the Pakistan Cricket board will surely come under stress.

Obviously, the BCCI and the PCB considering the financial incentives would have liked to go ahead with the tour. However, the matter was out of their hands once the Mumbai Terror attacks caused a rupture in the relationship between the two nations. The Indian government with parliamentary elections around the corner had no wish to act oblivious of the public sentiment. As cricket holds such a hold over the psyche of the two nations, the GOI decided to act firmly. (Now cricket lovers may argue that they should show the firmness elsewhere.)

Leaving the merits and demerits of the GOI’s decision aside, it is germane to wonder what it will do to the relationship between the two cricketing nations. As the decision is too raw, it is guaranteed to generate venomous outpourings from Pakistan. Already personalities like Rashid Latif has made demands calculated to sour the relationship between PCB and the BCCI further. The politicians and the media are going to join in to aggravate the situation sooner then later.

Funnily enough both the PCB and the BCCI appear reconciled to this decision and left to themselves they would quietly waited for the situation between the two countries to resolve before taking any drastic decision. As said earlier the situation has gone out of their hands.

To add to the turmoil, Sri Lanka Cricket Board a known BCCI baiter suspected of conspiring with the ECB has swiftly stepped into the breach. Their willingness to tour when other nations had refused is going to make them close to the PCB. Their intimacy surely would have caused discomfort to the BCCI if not for the fact that the ECB who would have relished BCCI’s discomfort is itself on shaky grounds over Stanford and their own breed of EPL.

This brings us to the interesting conundrum of who is going to support whom in the ICC. Until now, PCB has been a firm supporter of the BCCI and CSL rumored to support ECB. From news reports, it appears CSA and CA the weather cocks of the ICC has quietly backed BCCI. They may not change their colours soon unless the ECB shows enough gumption to take on the BCCI again. Considering the present bonhomie between the ECB and the BCCI, it looks unlikely that the ECB will launch an attack head-on. However, with its vote bank suspect, the BCCI’s days of bulldozing the opposition may be over. It has to learn to be more openly accommodative and less self-centered.

Surely, this change in the power equation within the ICC is good for the development of cricket and hence welcome.







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BCCI's rotten ways percolate to IPL franchisees

Deccan Chargers to probe Laxman-Afridi spat

The Deccan Chargers are to probe the genesis of the media war between two of their contracted players, Laxman and Afridi.

Actually, it is foolish of the administrators to react to such petty inconsequential issues. The whole world knows that an insecure Afridi has made it a point to shoot off his mouth at every given opportunity. One would go so far as to blame Laxman for reacting and thus giving unwarranted legitimacy to Afridi's statement.

Being a corporate entity the franchisee's should have shown better sense and  restrained themselves from following BCCI's blundering bureaucratic style of management.

Instead of going public about instituting a probe, a better and considered method would have been to call both Afridi and Laxman privately and request them to confine their differences to a team meeeting.

Why Cricket SA supports India

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Recently ECB tried to upstage India by promoting another League similar to the Champions League. At that time I had wondered on this blog whether Cricket Australia and Cricket SA Cricket would support India.

I need not have worried as in the end both the cricketing nations backed BCCI's Champions League.

Truth to be told, I was a bit perplexed at their support. The reason being, it was a heaven sent opportunity for them to stand up to the supposed dominance of the BCCI.

Anyway the truth is out, according to this report, "Three matches against India in Northern Ireland last year helped to substantially reduce the losses incurred by Cricket South Africa (CSA) in its last fiscal.CSA financial chief Hentie Wyk said here the loss of 16.3 million rands was much lower than the 72 million rands loss that had been budgeted."

If just 3 matches that too in played in Northern Island could reduce Cricket SA loss by 50 million rand, is it a wonder that they supported the BCCI.

It is evident that Cricket SA knows which side of the bread is buttered.

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How to get rid of Tendulkar and the other oldies

The issue which occupies any thinking Indian, an issue more important than the nuclear deal or much more worrying than rampant poverty is how to get rid of the seniors from the cricket team.

The fab-four, regardless to broad hints, refuse to make a graceful exist.Compounding their refusal is the reluctance of the grateful BCCI to wield the axe.

This leaves the onerous task of flushing the seniors out of the team to the fans. Fortunately for the Indian cricket fans, corporate India provides them a solution.

Corporate India, for the matter the corporate world has devised a sensitive way of getting rid of redundant employees. For instance, an indebted organisation creates a fresh Vice-President post and appoints these men to the post. By doing so, they achieve two objectives, one, getting rid of the employee and two, freeing the position for influx of fresh blood.

The Indian cricket fans should force the BCCI to adopt similar measures.

For example as recent as yesterday, Kohli a new inductee into the Indian team was voluble on the subject of sharing the dressing room with Tendulkar. This suggests a way to farm Tendulkar.

Make Tendulkar the coach of the Under-19 team. This will give the youngsters an opportunity to share the dressing room and gain from his experience.

BTW, we welcome similar suggestions for Laxman, Ganguly and Dravid.

BCCI retaliates - Ranatunga gets his due

Regulars may remember this blogger's rightful anger against Ranatunga for back stabbing us and also for daring to talk ill about our cricket team.

Though delayed, a speculative report suggests that the BCCI has retaliated and hit Ranatunga where it hurts.

The Central Organising Committee meeting for World Cup 2011 has been postponed indefinitely following BCCI chief Sharad Pawar's inability to attend the meet. Although Sri Lankan Cricket cites official engagements as the reason for Pawar's unavailability, there is more than what meets the eye.

Yipe! This is sure to bring him back to his senses.

Jagmohan Dalmiya Wins- Is it good for Indian Cricket?

Former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya who was ousted from the post of BCCI President in 2005 and subsequently expelled from it on charges of corruption has on Tuesday after an 18 month hiatus returned to power at the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).

Often described as the Machiavelli of Indian Cricket, Jagmohan Dalmiya's return to power is sure to unsettle quiet a few BCCI satraps.By becoming the President of CAB, Dalmiya in all probability will be nominated to the BCCI and will have a huge say in the appointment of BCCI officials and in the running of the BCCI.

In essence it means he has more than a toe- hold in the BCCI and the ruling faction will find their ambitions stymied in more ways than one.Typically from now on we will hear BCCI speaking in different tongues and quiet a few spciy BCCI meetings and press briefings.

However, we will have to wait and see how Jagmohan Dalmiya's return affect Indian Cricket.

At the micro level, we will soon see the side-lining of Ganguly from Bengal cricket. It may result in Ganguly migrating to play for some other state cricket team.

At the macro level (BCCI), either the embezzlement charges will be dropped or we may witness more dirty linen  washed in public.

From the Indian Cricket perspective, Dalmia's presence will act as a check and balace to BCCI's domineering attitudes. Apart from this positive aspect, Dalmiya's return may well see the BCCI and Indian cricket stunted by divisivness.

Do you believe Dalmiya's return augur's well for Indian Cricket?

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Champions Trophy – Will Cricket Australia and South Africa Cricket back India?

England is to go ahead with its own plans for a rival Champions League and most probably will not be a part of the IPL backed Champions League.
At the same time, IPL has announced its plans to host the Champions League in India.
However, to be successful, both have to have the support of Cricket Australia and South Africa Cricket.
IPL has an edge as they already have most South African and Australian cricketers signed on for 3 years. This does not mean that the BCCI can take their support for granted.
It is common knowledge that they, particularly Cricket Australia, are chaffing under the ignominy of being sidelined by the BCCI.
Now with ECB projecting itself as the one to take on the might of BCCI, the BCCI should be wary, as both Cricket Australia and South Africa Cricket are natural allies of the ECB.
So the question is will they continue to support India?

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IPL - Does ICC want match-fixing?

ICC's General Manager Dave Richardson's remarks that the IPL poses a serious corruption threat has enraged the BCCI. In fact they have sent off an angry email protesting that such a statement was 'unnecessary'.

BCCI certainly has a point.

Any big event with a lot of money riding on it is going to attract the punters. Obviously, there are unscrupulous elements lurking to take advantage of the punters interest. From there on it just a small step to try and lure players to reveal inside information in order to hedge their bets. Players who reveal inside information can surely induced into throwing games.

So this begs the question, what was the need for the ICC or its officials to reiterate something so obvious in public?

Ideally, ICC should sanitize the players to these threats. Or if that had failed, then they would have kept an eye on those who are susceptible to the lure of easy money. Is 'nt prevention better than a cure?

These public reiterations draw unwelcome attention on the IPL and may serve as a beacon for the match-fixers. Surely, that is what ICC is hoping to avoid.

Or wait, is the ICC hoping that IPL will be tarnished by match fixing allegations?

IPL is off-limits for U-19 players

The BCCI is coming around to the view that exposing the U-19 players to the Twenty20 game is detrimental to their growth.

According to Sunil Dev, an NCA committee member:

“There’s one question that needs to be answered. The NCA spends lakhs of rupees grooming youngsters form the under-16 stage, holding clinics with specialists emphasising on core skills. After that, it doesn’t make sense to put them straight into Twenty20, where they need to do exactly the opposite. Everybody has agreed to it in principle, but it was decided that there was a need to do further homework on the matter.”

However, Sanjeev Sharma, chairperson of the junior selectors, makes a valid point, “it’s important to ensure that the motivational and skill levels of the players are not waning from ‘real cricket’”.

In essence, he is expressing the fear that budding cricketers will expend their energy in learning skills that will stunt their growth as cricketers.

Do you think IPL has the power to corrupt a cricketer’s skill?

Sri Lankan Cricket back stabs BCCI

Sri Lanka has agreed to tour England in May. This tour is in direct conflict with the next edition of IPL.

This means, IPL franchisees who have signed Sri Lankan cricketers like Murali, Jayasuriya,Jayawadene,Sangakara and the latest phenomenon Mendis, have to do with out their services. In effect their non- participation will not only hit the franchisees financially (they will have to go for new recruits) it will also deny them an even chance to win the coveted trophy.

Not only that, Sri Lanka's decision has given a handle to the detractors of BCCI. Already, the English press has concluded Sri Lanka's decision as a indication of shifting equations in the ICC. They view this as a victory for ECB in its battle over BCCI.

One wonders, why Ranatunga, who was pleading with the BCCI to financially bail out Sri Lankan Cricket just last month, has agreed to this tour?

Surely, having got what they wanted (the media right for India's tour of Sri Lanka which saved them from penury), Sri Lanka has back stabbed India and Indian cricket by aligning itself with ECB.

[Back Stabber]

Sri Lanka Tour - Dhoni wants out?

Rumours are gathering strength as media's report that Dhoni is all set to pull out of the Sri Lankan Tour.

However, both Dhoni and the BCCI are playing it cute.

BCCI's Niranjan Shah said no such request from Dhoni has been received.

Meanwhile Dhoni has added fuel to fire by refusing to confirm or deny rumours. He has in fact said that everything will be clear in a couple of days.

One wonders whether any negotiations are going on and if so what are they negotiating for?

ECB positioning itself as BCCI's rival

Image via WikipediaECB is positioning itself as another power centre in the cricketing stakes.
The stand-off between them and the BCCI regarding ICL tainted counties taking part in the Championship League, has left them fuming.
Emboldened by the assurance given by Australia and South Africa(ECB claims they have this assurance),they are threatening to conduct their own version of The Championship League in the Middle East this year.
However, there are three issues that stick out like sore thumbs.
One, Australia and South Africa along with the BCCI have clamped down heavily on ICL league participants.
So it is debatable what these two nations gain from going away from the IPL. If they were to join, it will purely be to spite BCCI, which does not make business sense.
Two, going by the current voting pattern in the ICC, the Asian block is strongly supportive of the BCCI and are doubtful to split and go with the ECB. This may leave the ECB short of teams.
Thirdly, this is the most important issue, is the participation of the English players themselves. If you go by why the players are stalling over signing of the central contracts ( they want the ECB to let them play the IPL tournament in full) and couple it with the reported confusion on sharing Stanford's money, it is unlikely that the players will ignore IPL. Knowing the penchant for the English players to go where there is money, we can be sure they will like to play in the IPL and also in similar ECB tournaments.This will defeat the very purpose of and leave ECB holding its limp member.
Having said that, the BCCI should compromise, because this development indicates that quiet a few ICC members are itching for a showdown and very soon another power centre may emerge.

How do you think the events will pan out?

PCB suspends Shoaib Akthar's ban for a month

In order to let him participate in the IPL, the PCB has gone out of the way to suspend Shoaib Akthar’s ban for one month.

This partial ban has revived Shoaib Akthar’s career. For if IPL shunned him, other cricketing organisations would shun him too, a fate suffered by his less controversial teammate.

Update: 07.00 p.m. Read Q's version of the events here.

Shoaib Akhtar unloved and unwanted will turn to ICL

Once the PCB permitted him to play overseas, the common perception was, it would only be a matter of time before he played in the IPL.

However, IPL and its parent organization BCCI, have turned their backs on him stating "they will not admit anyone suspended by his home country".

Here is a backgrounder on Shoaib Akthar's ban and its aftermath.

1. Banned by PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) for five years on charges of indiscipline.
2. This automatically bars him from IPL.
3. On appeal Shoaib Akthar earns a partial victory. PCB still bans him from playing in Pakistan. However, he can play abroad. This qualifies him for IPL.
4. IPL (Indian Premier League) wants no truck with him citing its policy that it will not admit anyone suspended by his home country.

This leaves Shoaib with no recourse other than to play either in the ICL or parade his wares in the English county.

If one goes by his past record, he will surely join ICL out of spite and thus effectively end his turbulent International career.

IPL is bigger than the World Cup

IPL is bigger—in terms of sheer logistics activities—than the ICC World Cup, the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

Just look at the enormity of arranging the event.

To begin with, IPL has booked 12,000 hotel nights, 20,000 air tickets and will move at least 1000 people every day. Even during the last World Cup in the West Indies, the total movement over 54 days was six times and in IPL the teams and the officials will be moving 44 times.(Image Courtesy)

To cut the long story short a total 3,000 people including the cricketers will be ferried from one part of India to another.

An overwhelming affair is it not.

Technorati Tags: IPL,Cricket,ICC World Cup,Logistics,Organising

IceRocket Tags: IPL,Cricket,ICC World Cup,Logistics,Organising

Legalise betting in Cricket - Bindra

Inder Singh Bindra (BCCI) wants to the Indian Government to legalise cricket betting. The justification being "it will not only eliminate things like match fixing but also generate huge revenue for the government in millions. It is in the interest of the government,'

What he fails to mention is that by legalizing betting BCCI can milk another revenue generation avenue dry.

However, legalising betting will have an unintended fall out :it will bring more followers to the game, albeit for the wrong reasons.

A Way Out

It is unlikely that Harbhajan will escape unscathed. For one it will reflect adversely on all parties concerned.

If it were to happen, India and its cricketing body will stand accused of ‘flexing their financial muscles’. The Australian players will be pilloried for employing dirty tricks, in this case racism, to subjugate their opponents and the ICC will be slammed yet again for being weak- kneed.

Normally this sort of situation an acceptable political compromise is the norm. However, there is one uncompromising element in this mix, the Indian players. They are adamant that Harbhajan is innocent and unwilling to compromise. This adds a complexity to the situation as they have taken the high moral ground by excusing Brad Hogg.

How do you think they will resolve the situation?

 

Technorati Tags: Harbhajan,Symonds,racism,hearing,ICC,BCCI,Australia,India

The End Game

The Test series is winding down and Harbhajans ban coming up for review. The BCCI has started cranking up the pressure and as a first step; Procter’s ruling been made public and now the second step

IN AN ominous sign that Bollyline is about to turn toxic, Indian cricket powerbroker Lalit Modi has warned there will be Australian "casualties" from the Sydney Test.

It is an obvious attempt to remind the CAB and the players particularly the 'accusers' that they have a lot to lose. Undoubtedly, the ban will be overturned citing lack of corroborative evidence.

The End game is on.

IceRocket Tags: Racial abuse,Harbhajan,Symonds,CAB,BCCI,Ban,hearing,IPL

Vengsarkar offers to quit- I say good riddance.

In another display of petulance, Vengsarkar offers to resign only to be convinced to continue by Pawar.

His continued intransigence is proving tiresome and reflects badly on the BCCI’s decision making capacity.

It is high time Vengsarkar realizes that he is dispensable and Indian cricket is better served without a vacillating personality as the Chairman of Selectors.

If the man wants to leave, let him go, why should he be convinced to stay?

What do you say?

BCCI to parcel picture rights?

The stage is being set for demanding payments for the right to distribute photographs of cricket matches conducted under their aegis of the BCCI.

The Indian cricket board backs Cricket Australia (CA) over a picture rights
dispute that has prompted international news agencies to boycott coverage of
matches in Australia, a senior official said on Monday.

Indian board
secretary Niranjan Shah said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
could adopt the same stance as CA for future domestic test series.

For those of you, who look at this as joke, here is a chilling reminder;

"Humor is also a way of saying something serious."

~ T. S. Eliot (1888 - 1965)