ICC News: Restructuring the ICC, BCCI Influence & more

[sahilnatu]

India's best form is at home, away they are terrible, that does not make for the number one side. South Africa are the best why? Because they beat teams away and at home.

I just hope Indians don't hold onto beating Australia 4-0 for another decade. There are some real problems in the team, no bowling depth, the new batsmen are good but need a lot of work and Dhonis captaincy, when the team is under the kosh, is far too defensive.

That's interesting. You can hold on to Indian defeats in England & Australia, I can't hold on to the Australian defeat in India.
And yes, over the bowling & batting issues, the team is undergoing a change with the retirement of the greats. Won't be long before this new breed of cricketers take us back the top spot. Time shall tell, my friend, the SA tour isn't far away.

 

[Aalay]

Hah! That's a good point. They can always say that India got humiliated in England and Australia but when we talk about how Australia got humiliated in India than suddenly it becomes sensitive and we can not hold onto that. They are saying it was Australian team in transition and weakest Australian team to tour India but they forget that this is also weakest Indian test team to have played in India after so many years. This Indian team is in transition as well. Of course there are problems in Indian team as he highlighted in that post. There is lack of fast bowlers, new batsmen and spinners need to prove themselves overseas but than again every team in transition will face this problems.

 

[cricket_icon]

That's interesting. You can hold on to Indian defeats in England & Australia, I can't hold on to the Australian defeat in India.
And yes, over the bowling & batting issues, the team is undergoing a change with the retirement of the greats. Won't be long before this new breed of cricketers take us back the top spot. Time shall tell, my friend, the SA tour isn't far away.

Mentioning Australia or England obliterating India and mentioning India drubbing Australia are not the same thing. Why? Because both Australia (not so much in recent times) and England have been competitive both away and at home. India have not and their home form isn't amazing either. Losing an ODI series to a below average Pakistan team, not sure if that is worth celebrating.

England lost last summer at home against SA but did so in an entertaining 2-1 series. Good stuff to watch. Apart from being annihilated in the UAE by Ajmal and co they managed to destroy Australia...wait for it...in Australia.

And the best example is that of SA, their rise to number one is cemented with impressive wins away (England and Australia) and spirited, often dominant performances at home.

And not to ridicule the already much maligned Indian attack, but India's bowling attack is only slightly better than Bangladesh's. SA, Eng, Pak, Aus, Wi and NZ all have better attacks. Probably in that order.

I hope this does not come across as an assault on the Indian side but some of the delusions of their fans are rather ridiculous. Its true, India is a side working it's way back after a range of retirements but the bowling attack has always lacked and the search for a new batting order that works on all surfaces has been on going for 3 or 4 years, ever since the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman were marked for retirement. The only batsman to make a mark over an extended period is Koli, imo.

I'm saying this because the only way India can improve is if they stop burying their heads in the sand. It's time they realised they need fast bowlers, competitive pitches, a better, more streamlined first class system that doesn't rely so much on the IPL and batsmen who can adapt to the test game better than they do the ODI side of things.

 

[sahilnatu]

Utterly rubbish view there. First things first, BCCI doesn't depend on IPL for selecting players. All the players that make it to the the Test squad are selected on the basis of their first class form. If you hardly know anything about the Indian First Class cricket, it'd be more than advisable to not unnecessarily comment on it.
England & Australia defeats, well such things happen to the best of sides, nothing to hold on to that either, then.
India has got a more than healthy spin line up that caters to its needs on the subcontinent pitches, that's half the job done. As for the pace attack, its building up well with some good prospects (if you care to follow Indian Domestic Cricket).
And, talking of competitive pitches, I reckon one must play to its strengths. And, India is doing nothing wrong there, producing square turners all across the country.

 

[t20biz]

I think strict actions must be taken against caught players in IPL otherwise ICC must be reconstructed

 

[icyman]

ICC needs to be re-structured. Where was the ICC when the local police broke out news of spot fixing in England and in the IPL ?

 

[Satan666]

I think strict actions must be taken against caught players in IPL otherwise ICC must be reconstructed

Nice word, conveys how weak a foundation the ICC has, the windows are broken, the locks arent working the roof is leaking, all thanks to the Indians. People are blaming Srinivasan but the rot didnt start with him, he simply continued it!

 

[platoon]

IPL, Cricket, Politics and Money

taken from my blog My Zone: IPL, Cricket, Politics and Money

IPL is rocked with controversies. There were many fears at the start of the initial IPL that the spirit of the game will be damaged due to the extensive amount of money being involved. In this season all those fears have been realized to be true. It was found out that not only players but also officials and owners of teams were involved in spot fixing and betting.

This will be a great black mark on the game of cricket. The most serious problem is the response of the BCCI towards these allegations. Although BCCI criticized RR players who were accused of spot fixing, they kept silent about the arrest of Gurunath Meiyappan who is the son in law of current BCCI president. Also BCCI tried to cover up the Gurunath's connection with CSK stating that he is only a enthusiastic fan. It's president should really answer these questions regarding the allegations.

The greatest threat to the cricket is not money but the BCCI. The arrogant manner the current president controls the board is apparent to the whole world. BCCI does not care about the ICC and other cricketing nations. This was evident in the BCCI stand against the UDRS. Only BCCI opposes UDRS and as a result it is not compulsory in cricket matches world wide. Also BCCI intervened to the removal of Tim May form the ICC panel and somehow managed to get that position to one of their own employee. Also the BCCI is beyond the control of Indian government. It have all the money and power to influence the ICC.

I would not be surprised if at the end of the day all the big betters, fixers and bookie owners were some how released due to intelligent cover up stories and due to political influences and some small scale fixers are sentenced for wrong doing. This was evident form the attempts to hide the facts about the connection between Gurunath and CSK.

Anyway I think it's the right time to other cricketing nations to come forward and reduce the power of BCCI in the ICC. And also Indian government should try to regulate the actions of BCCI. Cricketing fans should use their voice against corruption in cricket and try to save the wonderful game of cricket from all evil.

taken from my blog My Zone: IPL, Cricket, Politics and Money

 

[icyman]

I would really like to see the BCCI re-structured as a corporate entity. It would make wonders to the game to have an independent board of directors controlling it. The Board needs a CEO who can be decisive,a bit smart and can shoulder some of the responsibility.

In an ideal situation, the BCCI needs on its core committee:

1. 2 Retired Cricketers the likes of Gavaskar-Shashtri era.
2. 2-4 Modern Day Retired Cricket players like Ganguly-Dravid-Kumble.
3. Strong Admins who have excelled in the past Manohar, Dalmiya & IS Bindra
4. A couple of corporates
5. Last, a bit of female representation, since they have merged the men's and women's cricket boards.

The tenure of the Board president can be fixed at 2 years. Also, a person should not be allowed to hold the President's office for more than 2 terms. The post of the President should be rotational and a female should be in charge every 3rd term.

 

[cricket_icon]

Utterly rubbish view there. First things first, BCCI doesn't depend on IPL for selecting players. All the players that make it to the the Test squad are selected on the basis of their first class form. If you hardly know anything about the Indian First Class cricket, it'd be more than advisable to not unnecessarily comment on it.
England & Australia defeats, well such things happen to the best of sides, nothing to hold on to that either, then.
India has got a more than healthy spin line up that caters to its needs on the subcontinent pitches, that's half the job done. As for the pace attack, its building up well with some good prospects (if you care to follow Indian Domestic Cricket).
And, talking of competitive pitches, I reckon one must play to its strengths. And, India is doing nothing wrong there, producing square turners all across the country.

You should maybe learn to read, nowhere did I talk about selecting based on the IPL, I said India/BCCI relies far too much on the IPL and when I said that, I meant financially. Do you want to try and dispute the biggest earner for Indian cricket right now is the IPL?

And the rest of what you say is exactly representative of a typically delusional Indian fans. There isn't a single truly world class pace bowler in India and there hasn't been since Dev, unless you count the medium pace of Z Khan.

India's spinners have been average since H Singh hit his peak...that was a decade ago. None of the other spinners strike fear into the hearts of their opponents ala Swann or Ajmal.

But keep up the good work

 

[sahilnatu]

You should maybe learn to read, nowhere did I talk about selecting based on the IPL, I said India/BCCI relies far too much on the IPL and when I said that, I meant financially. Do you want to try and dispute the biggest earner for Indian cricket right now is the IPL?

And the rest of what you say is exactly representative of a typically delusional Indian fans. There isn't a single truly world class pace bowler in India and there hasn't been since Dev, unless you count the medium pace of Z Khan.

India's spinners have been average since H Singh hit his peak...that was a decade ago. None of the other spinners strike fear into the hearts of their opponents ala Swann or Ajmal.

But keep up the good work

India need "more streamlined first class system that doesn't rely so much on the IPL" is what you said. So, it can only mean one thing mate, the one I wrote.

Talking of quality fast bowlers, speed isn't the only criteria to judge them. Take Shaun Tait for that matter, one of the worse bowlers I've seen, bowls all over the place with express pace and it gets easier to score off him. Z Khan has been more than good for India (he was the leading wicket taker in ICC WC 2011 with 22 wickets). There have been pretty good bowlers even after Kapil Dev, not as good as him, but they were mighty effective in their era, like Srinath & Venkatesh Prasad. There are some decent quicks in the team currently like Yadav. An excellent example of a medium pacer has been Praveen Kumar who bowls with the new ball at 125kph, swings both ways and gets wickets, very effective.

And with the spinners, Ashwin is as good a spinner as you could ever get. He has bowled beautifully for India and got wickets. Ashwin/Ojha or even Jadeja, the Aussies in their last tour to India couldn't stand any of them. The batting was awful against the spin (as also against the pace, rather awful overall, but thats a different issue). You cannot ask for more out of spinners. With Bhajji finding form in the recently concluded IPL, I see him coming back to the XI soon, so its a more than formidable spin attack IMO.

You see, its nothing about being a "typical delusional Indian fan". I'd stick by my initial statement, get a hang of Indian cricket first before you go on criticizing it.

 

[cricket_icon]

You genuinely think Ashwin is a world class, match winning spinner? He is several steps behind Ajmal and Swann, the two best spinners in the game. And yes, Z Khan was good but he was an effective, medium pace trundler who had a few good years.

If you make a list of top 20 international pace bowlers since 1990 to the modern day, would you place a single indian in that list? Zaheer could possibly come in at 20 but that's at a stretch. So let's not get carried away. India has and always will have a mediocre record away from home, why? Because their bowling line has never been above average.

Just look at the modern game, Australia (performing under par) have a better bowling attack, Pakistan (doing well with limited resources) have a miles better bowling attack and SA and England are in a different league. If you look away from the top test sides, I say both NZ and WI have a bowling attack. Who could actually argue against that? At best, India are on par with NZ.

The batting is still doing well but none of them have proven good enough to make a lasting run in the side, except maybe a couple.

You mentioned Jadeja as a top quality spinner...no come on. He is a good bowler who's batting abilities make him a decent pick but nothing to get excited about. Ojha, again a decent bowler but there is nothing special when you watch him. Very little, if any mystery, not exactly the smartest bowler. You might think I'm being harsh if you only look at his statistical record which is decent, but when you watch him play he's not exactly one of those when you say "omg how did he do that?" or "he might pick up a wicket any ball now".

I reiterate, decent bowlers but not special. Now, even if the spinners were decent, a good bowling line up must be balanced and although Kumar has impressed in spurts with his swing, he is not someone who is a consistent wicket taker. The spin department is OK but nothing in the pace department (I don't mean pace in terms of speed, it's a term used to describe bowlers above medium pace) is seriously lacking....again, why India hasn't been so good away from home.

These are real problems which need to be dealt with. How they can be dealt with? Well you need more than just Dennis Lillee turning up for a few hands on sessions.

 

[Satan666]

Icon, Javagal Srinath did well in the 90's for the Indians also. I rate him higher than Zaheer.

 

[Satan666]

India need "more streamlined first class system that doesn't rely so much on the IPL" is what you said. So, it can only mean one thing mate, the one I wrote.

Talking of quality fast bowlers, speed isn't the only criteria to judge them. Take Shaun Tait for that matter, one of the worse bowlers I've seen, bowls all over the place with express pace and it gets easier to score off him. Z Khan has been more than good for India (he was the leading wicket taker in ICC WC 2011 with 22 wickets). There have been pretty good bowlers even after Kapil Dev, not as good as him, but they were mighty effective in their era, like Srinath & Venkatesh Prasad. There are some decent quicks in the team currently like Yadav. An excellent example of a medium pacer has been Praveen Kumar who bowls with the new ball at 125kph, swings both ways and gets wickets, very effective.

And with the spinners, Ashwin is as good a spinner as you could ever get. He has bowled beautifully for India and got wickets. Ashwin/Ojha or even Jadeja, the Aussies in their last tour to India couldn't stand any of them. The batting was awful against the spin (as also against the pace, rather awful overall, but thats a different issue). You cannot ask for more out of spinners. With Bhajji finding form in the recently concluded IPL, I see him coming back to the XI soon, so its a more than formidable spin attack IMO.

You see, its nothing about being a "typical delusional Indian fan". I'd stick by my initial statement, get a hang of Indian cricket first before you go on criticizing it.

Ashwin is yet to prove his worth overseas, which would show him to be worthless. Praveen Kumar is mediocre, no where near to a McGrath or Pollock, both whom bowled a shade faster.

Zaheer Khan was good for a very short time, had it not been for injuries he may have had some consistency but as of recent times he has been a failure.

Harbhajan is done and dusted, was never anything above an average spinner.

Yadav has slowed down, he is military medium pace now, a failure also.

Similar to these guys your post it pretty much a failure, think it over, do some research and then apologize to yourself for being so blind to the weak Team India we now see.

 

[sahilnatu]

You genuinely think Ashwin is a world class, match winning spinner? He is several steps behind Ajmal and Swann, the two best spinners in the game. And yes, Z Khan was good but he was an effective, medium pace trundler who had a few good years.

If you make a list of top 20 international pace bowlers since 1990 to the modern day, would you place a single indian in that list? Zaheer could possibly come in at 20 but that's at a stretch. So let's not get carried away. India has and always will have a mediocre record away from home, why? Because their bowling line has never been above average.

Just look at the modern game, Australia (performing under par) have a better bowling attack, Pakistan (doing well with limited resources) have a miles better bowling attack and SA and England are in a different league. If you look away from the top test sides, I say both NZ and WI have a bowling attack. Who could actually argue against that? At best, India are on par with NZ.

The batting is still doing well but none of them have proven good enough to make a lasting run in the side, except maybe a couple.

You mentioned Jadeja as a top quality spinner...no come on. He is a good bowler who's batting abilities make him a decent pick but nothing to get excited about. Ojha, again a decent bowler but there is nothing special when you watch him. Very little, if any mystery, not exactly the smartest bowler. You might think I'm being harsh if you only look at his statistical record which is decent, but when you watch him play he's not exactly one of those when you say "omg how did he do that?" or "he might pick up a wicket any ball now".

I reiterate, decent bowlers but not special. Now, even if the spinners were decent, a good bowling line up must be balanced and although Kumar has impressed in spurts with his swing, he is not someone who is a consistent wicket taker. The spin department is OK but nothing in the pace department (I don't mean pace in terms of speed, it's a term used to describe bowlers above medium pace) is seriously lacking....again, why India hasn't been so good away from home.

These are real problems which need to be dealt with. How they can be dealt with? Well you need more than just Dennis Lillee turning up for a few hands on sessions.

Wait a second, where did I mention Jadeja as a 'top quality spinner'? Jadeja's mention was more to do with how the Australian line up crumbled before spinners even as good (or as bad) as Jadeja. You need to read my post carefully, mate. But then, you can always post whatever you want, how does that matter? And on Ashwin, he is definitely good, very good rather. Just that he's not been around for much (made his debut in late 2011). Varies his pace, turns the ball both ways with the carrom ball & the regular off break. Definitely a great bowler in the making.

Talking of pace bowling, Srinath was definitely great in my view. And yes, Z Khan too. Now whatever your 'best pace bowler list' is, these two will always be one of my favourite pace bowlers.

It's more to do with you being over critical, more like you underlining & highlighting a few flaws while skipping all that's good. You can always do that, go on with this poor criticism, and I'll go on standing by what is true.