o_18thitrba1dr417tbpqe1soiuvva.pdf

p64 :: Sport
Transitional proposals until 2016 accepted by the ICC committee
• Future Tours Programme: approved as a
legally binding regulation by the ICC in 2004,
future tours between the ten ICC member countries
were allocated on a rotating basis over
an eight-year period. This allowed each board
to plan their international programmes and
make deals with commercial partners. This
has now been replaced by bilateral agreements
between nations to cover test series between
2015 and 2023. The fear is that lower ranked
countries like Bangladesh or Zimbabwe could
be sidelined as the big three will no longer be
compelled to play against them ... in the more
than 20 years that Zimbabwe had been playing
tests, Australia played only three tests against
them.
• Two-tier format for test cricket: the bottom
two teams in the ICC rankings (at this stage
Bangladesh and Zimbabwe) will be relegated
from next year and will have to fight for promotion
back to the top division in a four-day Intercontinental
Cup and then a playoff. If a relegated
country doesn't win back its place in the top tier
on the first attempt, it would lose money from the
ICC. Associate members Afghanistan, Canada,
Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands and Scotland,
who currently only have ODI and T20 status, will
be able play tests through promotion.
• The Executive Committee and Financial and
Commercial Affairs Committee, consisting of the
big three as permanent members, plus two other
rotating members, one of them nominated by the
small seven, will make decisions. The committees
will only be chaired by one of the big three
until 2016.
• Leadership: a proposal reads that there is “the
need for strong leadership of the ICC, involving
leading members, which will involve BCCI taking
a central leadership responsibility”.
• Income distribution: the contributions of full
members to ICC events, like the World Cup, will be
recognised through contribution costs. India, who
apparently contributes 80% of the ICC funding,
will now get by far the most. ICC income will be
distributed as follows: 65% shared on an equal
basis by all full members and an extra 35%
shared on a sliding scale between the big three.
This replaces the old system whereby the ten
full members receive an equal share of funds
from ICC events and associate members (e.g.
Netherlands, Ireland, Kenya and Bermuda) also
got a percentage.
• Test Cricket Fund: The other seven full members
(except the big three) will be paid equally
on an annual basis from a test fund. CSA will
now receive $10-m per year after we were originally
left off the beneficiary list.
• ICC Events: there will be three major ICC events
in each four-year cycle, with the Champions
Trophy remaining for 2017 and 2021, and the
proposed World Test Championship, involving
the top four test teams, falling away.
Cricket market cont from p61
accounts.
Interestingly, entry level products were more
affected by the economic downturn than the
higher end goods. “Our mid-level and upper
ranges did very well,” says a local distributor
of a quality cricket brand.
January is usually a good month for cricket
sales, especially higher end bats, says Nigel
Prout of Opal Sports, local distributors of Gunn
& Moore. “The new senior teams are picked in
the beginning of the year and players at school
are often rewarded with a new bat for being
elected to the first team.”
Bassage, however, believes “there seems
to be a shift where customers are either purchasing
entry level or top-end. The current
market conditions are challenging and quality
cricket equipment is a fair investment.”
The fact that more and more customers are
bringing in bats to be repaired, shows that
money is tight, says Brett Burnill of Leisure
Holdings, local distributor of Gray-Nicolls.
“People are not replacing bats so easily.”
With the weakening Rand, top end products
will be placed under more pressure as consumers
will no longer be able to afford them,
he says.
They therefore focus on specialised cricket
retailers with exceptional product knowlege
for top end products, says Bassage. “There
are not many big players in the cricket retail
space in South Africa. This puts pressure on
increasing shelf space and store presence to
grow market share.”
The customers who buy from a cricket specialist
store, like Sports Horizons, still buy top
end products, confirms Dale Hermanson. But,
due to the exchange rate, many of them will
buy one model down from what they might
have bought in the past.
With the exchange rate hiking the price of
top bats from R5 500 to R7 500 and increasing
the price of a good, mid-level bat to R4
500, cricket becomes an expensive sport.
Outfitting a player with good quality cricket
gear — including softs and a bag — could cost
R8 000-R9 000.
When the economy is bad, the trusted, wellknown
brands offering better products do better,
says Schonegevel, “because people trust
the quality and know the brand.”
New brands
Another challenge in the cricket market is the
proliferation of new brands — some that don’t
survive for long. There are currently more
than 25 cricket brands available in South Africa,
some new names not heard before.
If retailers make the mistake of stocking
products from brands that don’t sell, they
don’t have the funds to pay their other suppliers,
is a complaint from a supplier wishing to
remain anonymous.
To p66
Worldwide condemnation of ICC proposals
• Paul Marsh, head of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, representing associations
of seven ICC members, said the proposals will broaden disparities between cricket’s “rich and poor.”
• Former ICC president Ehsan Mani wrote a letter of protest to the ICC which was undersigned by
Malcolm Speed and Malcolm Gray, former senior administrators with the ICC and CA, Clive Lloyd,
former West Indies captain and former ICC cricket committee chairman, Shaharyar Khan and Lt Gen.
Tauqir Zia, former Pakistan Cricket Board presidents.
• South Africa’s Ali Bacher wrote to the ICC: “ ... it would lead to division and strife in world cricket as
never seen before. ICC member countries should never forget the animosity that existed particularly
in the Sub-continent and the Caribbean when England and Australia had veto rights prior to 1993.”
• Malcolm Speed, a former ICC chief executive, wrote:. “I cannot see any reason whatsoever why India
should receive extra funding from ICC events at the expense of struggling countries such as Scotland,
Ireland, Uganda, Kenya and the other 100 Associate and Affiliate members where every dollar counts.”
• Former England captain Michael Atherton was scathing in his condemnation of the proposals.
• Transparency International issued a statement saying the “intention to entrench a privileged position
for the big three appears to be an abuse of entrusted power for private gain.”
• The New Zealand Players' Association has described the draft proposal as scheming.
• Imran Khan called the proposals "colonial" and Lord Harry Woolf, author of a report into the ICC's
governance, says they were "entirely motivated by money".
Sports Trader :: 2014 March