ICC News: Restructuring the ICC, BCCI Influence & more

[War]

ICC annual conference 2014 : Najam Sethi elected to ExCo, says PCB | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo

So Pakistan & Windies get the extra favours with the Big 3, while S Africa, SRI, BANG gets sort of left in the cold.

 

[krv5srt]

I know

I am an Indian and i am just ashamed of my fellow Indian's behavior. Srinivasan and his gang in BCCI has managed to spoil cricket in India.Now they are going worldwide with this nonsense. Even our Supreme Court described Srinivasan's use of power as nauseating.

 

[ParkedTheBus]

Despite everything Srini has done, we need to give him some time as the head of the ICC. He is a proven administrator and might take ICC to a better position. I am not defending Srini in anyway, but despite his so-called "corrupt" activities, he has significantly strengthened the BCCI, which none of his predecessors did.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Despite everything Srini has done, we need to give him some time as the head of the ICC. He is a proven administrator and might take ICC to a better position. I am not defending Srini in anyway, but despite his so-called "corrupt" activities, he has significantly strengthened the BCCI, which none of his predecessors did.

The only problem being, he has been suspended as the BCCI head by the Indian Supreme Court w.r.t. betting/fixing issues. So his appointment as the ICC head cannot be taken in a non-skeptical manner

 

[War]

Results of ICC Board meeting in Melbourne
​

The ICC and IDI Boards, under the chairmanship of Mr Narayanaswami Srinivasan, met on 27 and 28 June during the ICC Annual Conference week in Melbourne. Among the decisions made and reports received were:



Future Tours Programme



The ICC Board noted the significant progress made on the Future Tours Programme (FTP) that has been extended through to 2023 and expressed satisfaction that there was now more certainty around long-term scheduling with a reasonable balance between home and away matches for all 10 teams as well as between the three formats.



The ICC Board agreed with the ICC Chief Executives? Committee (CEC) recommendation that the Members must sign all bilateral agreements through to 2023 before the next ICC meeting, which takes place in October.



ICC Committees



The ICC Board approved the composition of various sub-committees.



David Cameron (West Indies) and Najam Sethi (Pakistan) have been elected to the five-member ICC Executive Committee, which will be chaired by Wally Edwards and will also include Mr Srinivasan and Giles Clarke, with ICC Chief Executive David Richardson as an ex-officio member.



Mr Clarke will chair the Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA), which will also include Mr Edwards, Mr Srinivasan, Nazmul Hassan (Bangladesh) and Jayantha Dharmadasa (Sri Lanka) with Mr Richardson again an ex-officio member.



The Governance Review Committee will be chaired by Martin Snedden and will include Peter Chingoka (Zimbabwe), Mr Hassan (Bangladesh), Sanjay Patel (India) and Imran Khawaja (Singapore) with Mr Srinivasan and Mr Richardson as ex-officio.



The ICC Development Committee has also been reconstituted to emphasise the strategic importance of developing the game beyond its traditional boundaries.



The Committee will be chaired by the ICC Chairman and include the three Associate Member representatives of the ICC Board, the three Associate Member representatives on the ICC Chief Executives? Committee and the Affiliate Members? Global Representative. It will also include the Full Member Directors Mr Chingoka (Zimbabwe), Mr Cameron (West Indies) and Mr Snedden (New Zealand) as well as Mr Richardson and ICC Head of Global Development Tim Anderson (both ex-officio).



T20I status



The ICC Board agreed to give T20I status to the Netherlands and Nepal, both of which qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014. This means there are now eight Associate sides with T20I status,. The other six are Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Scotland, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) which already have T20I status by virtue of having ODI status.



ICC Cricket Committee recommendations



The ICC Board noted with concern the number of bowlers with suspected illegal bowling actions currently playing cricket and noted the recommendations of the ICC Cricket Committee and the CEC to revise processes to encourage umpires and referees to identify suspect bowlers with greater confidence, to use the expertise of the bio-mechanics working in this area to assume a greater role during the assessment process, and to allow for ongoing scrutiny of bowlers once they have been identified under the ICC procedures.



The ICC Board will receive a further update at its next meeting.



It also concurred with the view that international venues must be set up to their maximum possible boundary dimensions, as per the playing conditions, to help maintain an appropriate balance between bat and the ball.



The ICC Board noted a number of other changes approved by the CEC, which met on Tuesday. The major changes to the ICC playing conditions for international cricket will come into effect from 1 October 2014:



? A bowler who has spent time off the field in a Test will be allowed to resume bowling after he has either spent the same period of time on the field as he spent off the field, or he has been back on the field for 30 overs, whichever occurs first.



? A T20I innings will be scheduled to span 85 minutes, instead of 80 minutes.



? The trial regulation allowing an 80-over top-up of unsuccessful DRS player reviews will be extended for another 12 months.



Integrity issues



The ICC Board received the annual anti-corruption report from Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit Chairman, who repeated the need for the ICC to maintain its vigilance in the area of anti-corruption and also sustain the current high levels of education and strategy of prevention.



The ICC Board discussed and agreed on the Terms of Reference for a review of cricket?s anti-corruption processes and resources at both international and domestic level. The review group, which is aimed at improving the structures and resources, will be chaired by ICC Chief Executive David Richardson and will also include ECB Chief Executive David Collier, BCCI representative Sundar Raman, James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia Chief Executive, and an independent expert.



Other matters



The ICC Board also received an update on the encouraging progress in preparation and ticket sales for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which will be staged in Australia and New Zealand from 14 February. New Zealand and Sri Lanka will feature in the opening match in Christchurch, while on the same day Australia will host England in Melbourne, which will also stage the final on 29 March.



The ICC Board ratified a two-year contract extension as ICC Chief Executive Mr Richardson and his contract will now run through to at least the end of June 2016.



On Thursday, the ICC Board had confirmed that the USA Cricket Association (USACA) was the ICC?s recognised member in the USA and approved the Development Committee?s recommendation that Oman Cricket (OC) should become the 38th Associate Member of the ICC. It also confirmed the suspension of the Affiliate Membership of Brunei and removal of Tonga as an Affiliate Member.



It also noted the Associate and Affiliate Members? decision to re-elect Singapore?s Imran Khawaja and Neil Speight of Bermuda for another two years as their representatives to the Board, while Cricket Scotland chairman Keith Oliver was replaced by Francois Erasmus of Namibia.



The ICC Board consists of the nominated representatives of each of the 10 Full Members plus three elected Associate Member representatives. The ICC Chairman, who is a nominee of a Full Member, chairs proceedings, which also include the ICC President and the ICC Chief Executive.



ICC Chairman Narayanaswami Srinivasan

ICC President Mustafa Kamal

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson



Australia Wally Edwards

Bangladesh Mahbubul Anam*

England Giles Clarke

India Narayanaswami Srinivasan

New Zealand Martin Snedden

Pakistan Najam Sethi

South Africa Chris Nenzani

Sri Lanka Jayantha Dharmadasa

West Indies Dave Cameron

Zimbabwe Peter Chingoka

Associate Member Director (Bermuda) Neil Speight

Associate Member Director (Namibia) Francois Erasmus

Associate Member Director (Singapore) Imran Khawaja



*Alternate to Nazmul Hassan

The outgoing ICC President Alan Isaac also attended the meeting by invitation

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

I do not know about others but things discussed seems pretty good. Spreading the game beyond the tradition of ICC, proper and balanced scheduling between 10 teams sounds pretty good. Why is everyone criticizing? I understand Srinivasan is the president but its not that he put a gun on everyones head and became one. I am not a supporter of Srini and I hate him to the core but why just blame BCCI/Srini for him becoming the president when other boards too dont have balls and are too behind money like BCCI?

 

[ferg512]

I do not know about others but things discussed seems pretty good. Spreading the game beyond the tradition of ICC, proper and balanced scheduling between 10 teams sounds pretty good. Why is everyone criticizing? I understand Srinivasan is the president but its not that he put a gun on everyones head and became one. I am not a supporter of Srini and I hate him to the core but why just blame BCCI/Srini for him becoming the president when other boards too dont have balls and are too behind money like BCCI?

Exactly, can't just place the blame on the BCCI/Srinivasan, if anything the majority of the blame should go on the other boards for being so gutless/corrupt themselves and accepting this knowing very well how dodgy BCCI/Srinivasan are.

 

[War]

Truth be told, more lies ahead at the International Cricket Council (ICC) with N Srinivasan as president | The National

Brilliant article. I have totally run out of words to describe these disgracefful development.

It may come as some comfort to know that at least a trace of the old cricket order will remain in the new one, finally born over the weekend in Melbourne at the International Cricket Council?s (ICC) annual meeting.

The restructuring of the game, as imagined by its three richest boards, has been formalised. The previous era ended in the course of several ICC meetings this year, amid a blizzard of lies. The Big Three lied. The small seven lied. Everyone lied about everything. It is a cricket administration thing.

So it fairly warmed the heart last Thursday when the new ICC chairman, N Srinivasan, addressed the media for the first time after taking over and, in the course of about 15 minutes of a tightly controlled interaction, was ? let?s put this kindly ? a little loose and easy with the truth four times. Imagine the disorientation had he not.




Wait, my apologies. They were not, strictly speaking, all untruths. One was a fine piece of evasion and another a bit of delusion.

The first was a straightforward revision of history, three questions in, about Srinivasan?s inconvenient entanglement in the Indian Premier League spot-fixing case. Asked whether he considered himself to be an ?appropriate, fit and proper? person to be running world cricket, Srinivasan replied: ?Actually, the court did not ask me [to step down as the Indian board head], I stepped aside voluntarily.?

Actually, the Supreme Court of India recommended that Srinivasan step aside in March. Had the recommendation not been accepted, the court would have made it binding by issuing an order. In any case, if it was such a voluntary step down, Srinivasan?s lawyers would not have twice tried ? and failed ? to have him reinstated.

The next was evasion. One reporter asked him whether he would act in the interests of the game globally, rather than in just the interests of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The fiduciary duties of ICC directors, who are made up of individual board representatives, has long been an unmentioned fault line within the body. The ICC requires that directors act in the interests of the ICC rather than their board ? broad, selfless interest for the game, rather than just narrow self-interest.

Srinivasan?s stance on this has always been clear, never more so than in the ICC meeting in Dubai on January 29, 2013. The minutes of that reveal that the ICC ethics officer was reminding directors of this principle. Srinivasan explained that he did not agree and that his position was that he was representing the BCCI.

On Thursday, Srinivasan opened his response like this: ?Cricket is a very old game. It has evolved over time. From Test cricket we went to ODI cricket, on to T20 cricket.?

Illuminating as that rudimentary history lesson was, it was not an answer. He proceeded to be particularly deft about avoiding it. He just chose to answer a question that was not asked.

Then, delusion. Does the game have an image problem at present? It is a reasonable query, even ignoring the many administrative messes and concentrating only on the growing number of corruption cases that have pockmarked the past four years.

?No,? he began and, well, the only thing left to add is that he also provided a headline: ?I cannot accept that cricket has an image problem.? Maybe this is not delusion. Maybe he really feels that cricket really does not have image problems. From the gutter, after all, even the street lights begin to look like stars.

He saved the second, the best and most audacious untruth, for the end. Was there ever a possibility during this whole process that the BCCI would walk away from the world game if it did not get its way? Nope, never, the BCCI would never ?have even dreamt of walking away from the ICC?, Srinivasan said.

The BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel was present. This month, he had said publicly that ?India might be forced to form a second ICC of its own?. That was not a low-key slip of the tongue. Patel made the remarks to the annual convention of India?s Sports Journalists Federation.

Also watching was Wally Edwards, the Cricket Australia chairman and staunch Srinivasan partner in the new world order. In March, Edwards said there was a ?very real chance? that India would walk away were their conditions not met. The England Cricket Board has also said it.

For about 15 minutes of talking, as the first words of a new beginning, that is no bad haul. Imagine, just imagine, the bounty from a full term of this leadership. At least in that respect, this new age will far outshine what has gone.

 

[abhi_jacko]

^^Sorry, but one of the points in this article is actually inaccurate and an exaggerated lie. His 'history lesson' response is just the starting of a full response to a totally different question.

The core of the question was something like: you have said in the past that you will act in the best interests of Indian cricket. Do you propose to act in best interests of world cricket and what is your vision. And his full response, while very boring, was not evasive.

 

[War]

I do not know about others but things discussed seems pretty good. Spreading the game beyond the tradition of ICC, proper and balanced scheduling between 10 teams sounds pretty good. Why is everyone criticizing? I understand Srinivasan is the president but its not that he put a gun on everyones head and became one. I am not a supporter of Srini and I hate him to the core but why just blame BCCI/Srini for him becoming the president when other boards too dont have balls and are too behind money like BCCI?

Yea Australia & England board take equal key blame, as been discussed before in this thread.

 

[grkrama]

the simplest truth is money mongers are ruling allover the world.

 

[War]

So while FIFA bans Nigeria for government intervvention in sport - BBC Sport - Nigeria suspended from international football by Fifa, ICC continues to stand idly by while PAK government continues to intervene in PCB affairs - Pakistan Cricket News: Najam Sethi removed as PCB chairman | ESPN Cricinfo

As i always say, FIFA may have high level corruption issues - but on administrative level, the ICC, or should i say the "Big 3" are horrendous at this.

 

[abhi_jacko]

FIFA and ICC don't have to play by the same rules.

I think Pak cricket is suffering enough as it is .. ICC taking action against them for this is totally not needed. Banning them for govt intervention would be the last thing cricket wants

 

[War]

FIFA and ICC don't have to play by the same rules.

I think Pak cricket is suffering enough as it is .. ICC taking action against them for this is totally not needed. Banning them for govt intervention would be the last thing cricket wants

What are the diff rules?

Mind you I am not suggesting PAK get banned, that certainly don't make sense now with the terrorist issue meaning international cricket can't be played in PAK anytime soon.

PAK have been the sick man of world cricket for a long time, every other day over the last 10-15 years along with other Asian countries like SRI and Bangladesh, we here of some govt intervention in their cricket board & the ICC does nothing.

I recall Sangakkara himself in his MCC 2011 speech at Lords, blasting the SLCB for this.

Basically my general point is that while ICC talks it doesn't want government intervention in sport, they always allow it when specific asian countries do it - but FIFA always bans nations whose government does that.

----------

An early example of how the new ICC Structure will potentially fail NZ @ferg512, @Chewie, @Howsie, @CG123

New Zealand Cricket News: Large gaps in New Zealand's FTP schedule | ESPN Cricinfo

"The imbalance may stem from New Zealand's commercial position in world cricket. While the Big Three nations can make money from almost any tour, home Tests with New Zealand are not lucrative propositions for teams like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa. As such, New Zealand appear in most need of assistance from the "Test Cricket Fund" promised by the revamped ICC in February. However, the setting up of this "Fund" had not been a significant point of discussion during the recent ICC meeting in Melbourne, according to one director in attendance."

 

[SpitfiresKent]

I suppose it's the same with Zimbabwe & England. England refuse to invite/tour Zimbabwe for political reasons which is just ridiculous. The government shouldn't poke their nose in and should concentrate on more important issues.