ICPA formed, player unity gets a second innings

With former players like Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Ravi Shastri and Arun Lal as guiding lights and the Tendulkars, Dravids, Gangulys and Kumbles as founder members, the ICPA — formally proclaimed today at a function in Kolkata — will seek to make amends for the past and build security for the future. Enrolment begins right away — anybody who has played cricket at the first-class level, past or present, is eligible for membership.

While long-term goals include pension, insurance and widow welfare schemes, their immediate priority is to solve the problems arising out of the ICC’s Ambush Marketing contracts. To that end, they will be focussing on a two-way dialogue with the BCCI, the fiasco of the ICC Champions’ Trophy no doubt fresh on their minds.

Arun Lal, appointed secretary, took the first steps towards getting approval of the BCCI, aware that its president Jagmohan Dalmiya has a deep distrust of any “trade unionism”. Lal sought to emphasise that this was ‘‘in no way a confrontationalist body’’ and expected full co-operation from the BCCI. ‘‘They (BCCI) need to have an open mind on this. We will only be representing the players and putting forward their points of view’’, he added.

Ravi Shastri, who dealt with the BCCI on behalf of the players at the height of the contracts row a couple of months ago, felt moves have to be made now. ‘‘We want to resolve all issues including the sponsorship agreement for the World Cup’’, he said.

‘‘The controversy was because of a lack of communication between players and the board, so we need to get down to talking as soon as possible.’’

A word of caution though: the IPCA sounds good only as long as the flock sticks together. Navjot Sidhu, one of those involved in the making of the association in 1989, put it best: ‘‘When the time came to bell the cat (read BCCI), the mice (the players) ran away.’’