BCCI counters CA, says no commitment on IPL duration

In an interview to ESPNcricinfo, Edwards also said that the BCCI had given a commitment to keep the IPL in its present size and not expand its duration for at least the next eight years. The Indian board, however, has insisted that they hadn’t committed to any such deal.

“We’ve made a commitment to whom? That’s the first question. Secondly, nothing could be called a commitment unless something has been agreed upon in writing. Yes, we discussed the IPL issue with different cricket boards on the sidelines of the ICC meetings but I would like to maintain that no written commitment has been made. At the same time, I can say that there’s no plan to expand IPL in the immediate future,” a BCCI source told The Indian Express.

Edwards also said, “We have a commitment from them that the IPL dates won’t change, the start date won’t change and the length of the tournament won’t change. They’ve given us that commitment. IPL is important to them, and to the world of cricket players who make a lot of money out of it, and we didn’t want to see it grow.”
The issue reportedly came up for discussion during the recent ICC Board meetings and Edwards says that the BCCI had to be persuaded to avert a Packer-like situation when almost all top international stars had shunned mainstream cricket to join the ‘revolution’.

He also expressed fears that there was a real possibility of the ‘IPL turning into a travelling circus that would take all our good cricketers 12 months of a year and leave us with second rate international cricket’.

“It’s not a pretty thought. But it’s possible, and they know that. Maybe in the end it will still happen one day, but I don’t think it will happen in the next eight years,” he said.

PACKER REVISITED

Far from having agreed to keep the IPL in tact, the BCCI insider also revealed that the board was yet to sign the Members Participation Agreement (MPA) for the TV rights for the next rights cycle, and the issue will once again be tabled in the next ICC meetings. “There are a few issues in this regard which need to be looked into. We will reach an agreement through discussion,” said the source.

While drawing parallels with the infamous row between the then Australian Cricket Board and Kerry Packer in the 1970s that led to the formation of World Series Cricket, Edwards indicated that with the MPA still not signed, it was better to not antagonise or alienate the BCCI.

It was the media tycoon who ended up with the best players in the world at his disposal, leaving world cricket deeply undernourished with talent.

“India are strong and we’ve got to recognise that, but what we want them to do is be part of the decision-making process and be in the ICC rather than just turning up and being aggressive, angry and unhappy,” he said.  By drafting and agreeing upon the ‘position paper’ Edwards claimed to have found a middle ground with the BCCI, one where they seemed convinced enough to not let the IPL gobble up international cricket.

“They’ve said more than once ‘you can have a World Cup but we won’t be coming’. We can argue they might come, but will they come to Champions Trophy or a World Twenty20? They might not. I can easily see them not coming,” Edwards said.