o_18thitrba1dr417tbpqe1soiuvva.pdf

p60 :: Sport
Is it still cricket?
In future, children will have to be taught
a different meaning to the idiom That’s
not cricket! Based on the recent developments
at cricket’s ruling body, cricket
can no longer be a synonoum for fair
play and doing the right thing.
For example, the new boss of world cricket,
Narayanaswami Srinivasan, has been implicated
in allegations of bribery, conflict of interest
and passing information to bookies in
two separate court cases in India (see Meet
the new ICC boss). He already survived a court
order to stand down as president of the Board
of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and it is
therefore highly unlikely that his current legal
problems will prohibit him from becoming
chairman of the International Cricket Council
(ICC) in July this year.
In contrast, Cricket SA (CSA) CEO Haroon Lorgat
is suspended from taking part in ICC affairs
pending the outcome of an investigation
— preventing him from having any influence
during the negotiations about ICC changes.
His crime?
He is accused of collaborating in an ESPN-
Cricinfo article in which the former ICC head
of legal affairs, David Becker, said it was "improper"
to allow a board member to "blatantly
disregard an ICC resolution" when the BCCI announced
that they were deviating from the
agreed ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP) by
cutting short their tour of South Africa. Lorgat
denies involvement with the article.
Becker also gave journalists a statement,
saying that he resigned from the ICC in 2012
because of governance issues, in particular,
Sports Trader :: 2014 March
Our structures at school
level are very strong, and
that drives the game
dominance by Srinivasan. "Perhaps the most
concerning example is the recent attempt by
Srinivasan to manipulate the FTP schedule for
his own benefit," Becker said.
Lorgat also ran foul of Srinivasan while he
was head of the ICC. The report he commissioned
from retired English judge Harry Woolf,
recommending greater independence for the
board to prevent dominance by one country,
was shelved. Just like Lorgat.
ICC proposals
It is therefore not surprising that the demise of
the FTP is one of the proposals the BCCI, with
support from Australia and England, pushed
through in February this year (see Proposals
accepted by ICC p64).
It is also no coincidence that these radical
changes to world cricket were tabled at the
Finance and Commercial Affairs committee of
the ICC.
Because, as Michael Goldman, professor of
sport management at the University of San
Francisco, explained to the The World at Six
radio programme: this is all about the money,
or more precisely, negotiating and securing
future lucrative sponsorship deals for test
cricket, which lags far behind the millions
generated through the IPL and the ODI Champions
Trophy. Apart from the big three (India,
England and Australia) other test playing nations
do not make money from this form of
cricket. The shortened Indian tour, for example,
reportedly cost CSA R200-m.
Despite protests from across the world, the
proposals to change the face of test cricket
were adopted by eight of the ten full members
of the ICC — including South Africa, whose
Chris Nenzani accepted it is a flawed, but liveable
situation, after initial opposition.
Even though the Proteas are the ICC #1
ranked test cricket team, our AB de Villiers
tops the current test and ODI batsman rankings
and Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn are
the world’s top test bowlers, South Africa was
relegated to the reserve benches during these
negotiations.
The BCCI knew that their threats to withdraw
from future ICC events (ODI and T20 World
Cups) if their proposals were not approved,
gave them the upper hand. With more than
a billion TV viewers, the money generated by
cricket in India is vital for the future existence
of the ICC. According to news reports, they
contribute 80% to ICC funds.
No impact on cricket in SA
But, even before CSA capitulated and entered
into a plea bargain agreement with the big
three, people involved in local cricket doubted
that the proposed changes at international
level would affect the game in South Africa.
As long as our cricket heroes go on performing
and the facilities exist for kids to play
cricket, the game would remain popular, they
agree. Everybody we spoke to say that the