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Journalism of Courage
In Dubai, four cricket boards stood up and protested against the position paper that suggested a structural overhaul of the ICC. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa protested against the resolution. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has changed its stand since and joined the Big Three under the assurance that Bangladesh’s Test status won’t be compromised and also, the big teams will play bilateral series against them. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) still remain adamant.
This is the situation as the ICC Executive Board once again meet in Singapore tomorrow to discuss the revamp proposals which, if approved, will cede executive decision-making to India, Australia and England.
The proposals require the consent of eight out of ten ‘full member’ boards and as of now the ‘big three’ have seven in their favour. “We are doing this to ensure that every member is benefited. And we want to do it in a way which is accepted to all,” BCCI president N Srinivasan told The Indian Express.
The BCCI, along with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA), forms the ‘big three’ of world cricket and they’re still confident that things can be agreed upon amicably. After the Dubai meeting, the ICC president Alan Isaac had said: “This is an important time for world cricket and it is extremely encouraging that the ICC Board has unanimously supported a set of far-reaching principles that will underpin the long-term prosperity of the global game.
“There is more work to be done by the members in developing their schedules of bilateral cricket while at the ICC we need to work through the detail of the manner in which these principles will be implemented. Extensive work will now be undertaken in advance of a follow-up Board meeting next month.”
Hectic parleys
This follow-up meeting is likely to be all about negotiations and hectic backroom parleys. Negotiations have been going on with the PCB and CSA and there’s a possibility that they might change their stance. The Sri Lankan board appears to be still very rigid. It has already questioned the legality of the new revenue sharing model and the new style of governance which could come into effect from the next ICC rights cycle starting in 2015. As per the changed system, revenues earned from the ICC events will be distributed on the basis of their contribution. The BCCI contributes 80 per cent to the coffers and it’s share will increase at least by 20 per cent. The SLC, however, has taken the matter to the ICC’s legal cell, writing its concerns to the ICC’s head of legal affairs Iain Higgins. But the PCB and CSA remain open to discussion.
Playing against India, albeit at neutral venues, could be too big a temptation for Pakistan to resist. South Africa desperately want to mend fences with the BCCI through an honourable compromise. Little wonder that a BCCI insider hoped that both will fall in line.
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