The ghost of Big Three and the Zimbabwean lesson
View(s):During the Zimbabwe-Sri Lanka-West Indies tri-nations ODI series, someone queried what Zimbabwe’s next international assignment was. The commentator rather reluctantly replied that their next assignment was once again against Sri Lanka and that too, in June 2017. Isn’t Zimbabwe a fully fledged Test playing nation? Why this apathy against a fledgling cricketing nation that is trying to make its presence felt in the international calendar. Even the Sri Lanka calendar is chock-a-block during that time. From June 2-19, 2017, the Lankans will be engaged in the all important Champions Trophy ODI tournament in England and, in early July, will be agog with a full tour of India, with three Tests, five ODIs and a T-20. As long as Thilanga Sumathipala and company, who are running Sri Lanka’s cricket, this is their lifeline – I mean the money spinner. It is amid this tight schedule, the Lankans are supposed to host two Tests and three ODIs against Zimbabwe. Hence, as to what sort of emphasis the Lankan authorities lay in this pending series would be anyone’s guess!
The ICC broke the shackles of the 'Big Three' concept -- mooted mainly by former ICC and Indian cricket strongman V. Srinivasan. But, it seems there is another monster waiting to pop out its head with England, Australia and South Africa looking to divide the test line up
For sure, we are aware that there are huge reverberations about the attempts made to split the ICC order to increase the income levels of some of the top cricket nations. First it was the introduction of the ‘Big Three’ concept which was worked into the head of Indian cricketing gunslinger N. Srinivasan, but that sinister cricketing move was short-lived. After the new cricket order took over the handle of the Indian bat under the leadership of Shashank Manohar, the game plan changed. Srinivasan had defended the changes that gave India, England and Australia all the power, and greater share of the money, by claiming they secured the financial future of the game. Still the unsavoury move plummeted to zero.
But, the real perpetrators of the ‘Big Three’ concept would not lie low. Constantly, they have been on the prowl looking for that moment that could strike hard, so that the division of the order could be made a reality. But, cricket is in safe hands for now because, for the simple season that India is out of that box right now. During Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka, ICC CEO Dave Richardson was in Sri Lanka and made a presentation of the new cricket concept mooted by England, Australia and South Africa. The Proteas were once against the ‘Big Three’ concept.
The new line of thought looks at proposals in this manner — “conference” style split among Test-playing nations. The new order looks at a system where countries such as South Africa, India, England and Australia would have a bigger say in the fixtures, but say that other countries which play Test cricket would not lose monetarily, despite playing a lesser number of Tests. According to Cricinfo report, “The conference structure, believed to have been mooted by ECB chief executive Tom Harrison, was floated as an alternative to 1st and 2nd Divisions, an idea vehemently opposed by the likes of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, for reasons of history and status.
“Speaking in Adelaide during the day-night match between Australia and South Africa, ICC chief executive David Richardson said the CEOs of Full Member Boards agreed that the volume of international cricket played needed to be reduced, while the context of each individual match was increased. Richardson and ICC chairman Shashank Manohar remain optimistic that the proposals presently in the works, are on course to be agreed upon by the time the ICC Annual Conference in London in June 2017.”
The article goes on to say that with or without the support of India, they would try make this move a reality by mid 2017. Good, Thilanga Sumathipala and company have taken this stance and held on to that opinion, along with Bangladesh, obviously with the support of India. This is a reality that we must be conscious of. Out of the big guns, the West Indies is gradually drifting toward different realms as a result of the formation of the very concept. There is nothing called the West Indies. It is a union of different countries, different governments and different ideologies amalgamated mostly for former colonial needs and aspirations.
Their other sports go as different entities. At the Olympics, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados or Trinidad for that matter compete as different countries. Then, by chance, if cricket is recognised as an Olympic Sport, where would they be placed? Evidently, the West Indian concept is gradually diluting. They have too many disagreements. There are too many rebels in the West Indian melting pot. The best West Indian combination does not play as a unit in ICC cricket, instead, there are a host of super cricketers such as Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo or Darren Sammy making a living by playing pirate T-20 cricket. So, if there is a two-Tier system in the ICC order, they would not disagree because, they get their dollar at the end of the day.
I wonder where the Zimbabwean sympathies are. If the division becomes a reality, definitely West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will be pushed to Tier II in the ICC order. Are they in a position to fight, now with South Africa becoming a prime mover of the ‘Two-Tier’ concept and taking their cricketing ties and their bank balance into consideration? We think the Zimbabweans are helpless.
Yes, they were taken into the Test arena under different circumstances. There was more order in the governance of cricket then but, mishandling the situation under incompetent officials saw the Zimbabweans plunging into an abyss. I feel even the West Indians are in a similar black hole under different circumstances.
But, the same could not be said about cricket interest and governance in Bangladesh. They are one of the fastest growing cricketing entities at present. At the same time, they are very serious about what they are up to and are working towards an order of excellence.
So are we. At the end of the day, it is not the cricketer who had brought forth the disparity in the world cricket orderm, but it is the people who try to govern those entities with incompetent people with vested interests.
Even at this late stage, we Lankans must become mindful of these stubborn truths and keep working towards credible solutions for our own problems at hand. We keep screaming at the shortcomings not because we hate those individuals. We keep screaming because we love the game of cricket which has become a part of our culture. For countries like Zimbabwe it may be too late by now. At the same time we too should be aware that we are very vulnerable. We are perched on slot number seven in the ICC rankings.