ICC tyranny: Lankans fighting at Armageddon with rubber bullets!!!
View(s):Is this cricket’s Armageddon? According to the Book of Revelation, Armageddon is the site of gathering of armies for a battle during the end times. But, the present location for this current scenario is Dubai. There the armies of the rest of the cricketing world are scheduled to confront (barring New Zealand which have opted to self-subjugate themselves) and rally to derail the chariots of the self-appointed cricketing gods from India, England and Australia on Tuesday.
Yet, ironically the Lankan cricket administration’s army has opted to fight the war with rubber bullets and cardboard swords.Principally the Lankans are against the move which has come outside the ICC norms and outside cricketing ethics. They know that if the proposals are passed, Sri Lanka would be second class citizens in the world of cricket, like the other cricketing nations, barring the so-called ‘Big Three’. But instead of opposing the proposals tooth and nail as the South African and Pakistani boards are doing, the Lankans are only going beg to defer the issue and are open for further talks.
We ask what is there to talk. India have already threatened that they may pull out all ICC engagements if the proposals are not passed. It’s not a statement; it’s a veiled threat to the rest of the cricketing nations to fall in line.
We are aware that it is difficult for a cricket administration to be financially stable without the support of the Big Three. But, that does not mean that they have the right to bring out draconian proposals in a bid to subjugate the rest of the Test playing nations.
Besides, it is here that the rest of the nations should stand as one or at least get four direct votes to kick the motion out. Already South Africa and Pakistan have taken a firm stand. Aren’t they also going to face the same wrath? It is seldom that Pakistan get series against India. Yet, Pakistan cricket has survived even without cricket on their home soil for some years. For Sri Lanka, still there is enough time to strap-up their back bone and take a firm stand.
A hundred years ago or may be a little less than that there were only two gods — England and Australia. They ran cricket to their whims and fancies, but they later found out that the system was archaic and allowed it to become more democratic. This led to the system getting more full members on course, and finally the formation of the International Cricket Council.
India, on the other hand, was not so affluent at one juncture. Then even to get their World Cup bids they sought the support of their neighbours – Pakistan and Sri Lankan and then later Bangladesh. This South Asian caucus became a powerful one at the ICC and prevailed to a certain extent, where the fair deal was concerned. But, now since the opening of the Indian economy back with their billion plus market, the BCCI has become super rich and arrogant. Generally rich people do not keep company with poor neighbours.
Now even on face value the ICC is run by the ten full members and its mission is the welfare and sustenance of the game and broad-basing of it among the emerging members. Under this system, all ten full members enjoy equal status notwithstanding the financial status of each individual board. As a result the game is spreading towards becoming global force in the same ilk of soccer.
Yet, while the game was marching towards that goal, there was one significant change in the status quo. England and Australia which initially held veto power lost it and the ICC drew up a charter compelling every Test playing member’s right to be in the game on even keel and the Future Tours Programme was introduced. Here in an eight year calendar every Test playing nation would face each other at least once on a home-and-away basis.
Now this present structure which took over a century of international cricket to evolve to its present status is under threat. Reason: With billions of dollars coming into the ICC kitty, the two former rulers who lost their veto powers on the way have found another ally in the new-rich BCCI. The England Cricket Board and Cricket Australia were original partners. India at present is the rich kid in the block. Though India do not have the same perennial status as the other two, they do possess the coin power to acquire the status that they are seeking. The result: The three cricketing big heads have floated a draft paper with far-reaching changes to the present structure. If the ploy works, the ECB and CA will get back their old glory with the backing of their new found friend – the Board of Control for Cricket in India. They call themselves the working group of the ICC’s Finance and Commercial Affairs (F and CA). The working group’s proposal to the ICC’s Finance & Commercial Affairs (F&CA) is to revamp ICC administration and distribution of its earnings.
However the bottom-line in the whole affair is for the so-called three big nations to take control of the game by its tail.
The Treasurer of Sri Lanka Cricket, Nuski Mohamed, a veteran who has been in the top rung of Sri Lanka cricket for the past three and half decades, described the situation in these words: “This is a ploy by the BCCI, ECB and CA to gain control of the game. Once they gained the upper hand there is no looking back. There onwards one of those nations will head the ICC on a rotation basis along with a co-opted other from the rest.
“This is something that we have gained with a lot of pain. We became the champions of the Associated members on three occasions. We participated in the two initial World Cups. Even prior to Sri Lanka gained full membership, a list of Sri Lanka Cricketers have performed at county level in a big way. In short, to gain Test status we made a lot of sacrifices. Finally we did under the guidance of the late Gamini Dissanayake and we are not ready to give up on the hard work that we have done that easily. The rest of the members need only three votes to thwart this move and I think we should back South Africa and Pakistan who already have objected.”
The former Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga — a huge cog in the wheel where Sri Lanka’s present status in world cricket is concerned — came out undiluted. He said “It’s unfair for any cricketing nation to get preferential treatment; so I am opposed to this proposal.
“I think we are getting away from the meaning of cricket. The so-called powerful teams now dominate and control cricket. This is not the right attitude. The ICC should protect the game and look to expand it. They are not doing this with this proposal. This may be just the start. After a while cricket will end up like football; there will be lots of leagues and it will be all about money.
“The worst part is that there will be much less international cricket and there will be more league games. Players will soon put clubs before country. The people who run things don’t know the value of Test cricket. They have never played cricket. It’s all about money. I am glad that South Africa has opposed this plan, but I don’t know if our board would have the guts to do that. Personally, I think the people pushing this have their own agendas. I don’t even know the reason for there to be an ICC. They should close it down because they are not able to make proper, independent decisions.”
| ‘Big three’ bid to re-shape world cricket
LONDON, Jan 25, 2014 (AFP) – Cricket’s power-brokers meet next week amid an apparent threat from India to withdraw from major global events unless there is radical reform of the International Cricket Council. The draft proposal to be discussed at a two-day ICC board meeting in Dubai on January 28 and 29 calls for more decision-making powers for a three-strong group of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board — who between them represent the game’s wealthiest nations. On the field, there is also a suggestion of the creation of two divisions for Test cricket but with England, Australia and India all safe from relegation because of their commercial importance. The proposals need seven votes from the ICC’s 10 leading nations to pass. Thursday saw the BCCI’s emergent working committee declare the proposal “in the interests of cricket at large”. It added it had “authorised the office bearers to enter into agreements with the ICC for participating in the ICC events and hosting ICC events, subject to the proposal being approved by the ICC board”. The BCCI working committee also gave the go ahead to its top officials to sign bilateral agreements with all other full member boards, including Pakistan. At stake is the current ICC Future Tours Programme, a system that ensures all the 10 leading nations play each other over a set period, thereby guaranteeing the smaller countries aren’t starved of Test cricket in particular. Criticism from other boards has so far largely been muted to complaints about a failure to follow procedure. Both South Africa, currently Test cricket’s top-ranked nation and Sri Lanka, losing finalists against India in the last World Cup final, have called for the proposals to be deferred and taken off the table next week. Meanwhile Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA) chairman Paul Marsh accused the ‘big three’ of leaving the other seven leading nations to “wither on the vine”. “This proposal is designed to vest control of the game in the three boards of India, Australia and England,” added Marsh, the son of Australia great Rodney Marsh. “It is not in the best interests of the global game and we have real fears that it will only serve to strengthen the ‘big three’ countries whilst the rest are left to wither on the vine. “The game deserves far better than this and all within FICA call on the other seven ICC board members to reject this proposal at next week’s board meeting. The future of the game depends on them doing so.” |