Say no to drugs testing!

There's a huge tug o' war involving the BCCI, ICC and WADA with other bit-players like the Indian sports minister, FICA & the Olympic Council of Asia offering their opinions on the issue.

Cricinfo does a good job with summarizing the issue, including concerns on all sides.

To me, the BCCI citing security reasons & concern for players as an excuse to not comply with the norms is so funny, sad and ironic. Recent evidence suggests that when it comes to taking care of players, the BCCI is on very thin ground.

• In 2006, the BCCI 'volunteered' its cricketers to play a ODI series in Sri Lanka when South Africa pulled out of tri-series after a bomb blast. Thankfully, that ODI series was rained out almost totally.
  
• Earlier this year, the BCCI agreed to a tri-series in Zimbabwe (South Africa being the 3rd team) despite the dysfunctional nature of the country and a cholera outbreak.
  
• The BCCI has always (and will continue to) got its cricketers play meaningless ODIs as a result of board-level give-and-take policies. Players or support staff who warn of burnout and fatigue are gagged.

The ICC became a signatory to the WADA code in July 2006. Last year, the ICC's board approved the code's adoption for tournaments that it conducts (ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup, ICC Champions Trophy, Under-19 World Cup, ICC Trophy, etc.).

The BCCI needs to provide answers to these questions.

• Exactly what were Sharad Pawar (ICC VP) and Shashank Manohar, who are both on the ICC Executive Board, doing when the board made its decision? झक मार रहे थे?
  
• If they were present, were they aware of the implications when the decision was made (even if it wasn't unanimous)?
  
• If they were absent, did they know about the agenda and could they have done something about it?
  
• Why did the BCCI do nothing until the deadline (Jul 31) to convene an emergency meeting regarding compliance with WADA's "whereabouts" clause?
  
• Did the BCCI ever inform its players about the implications of the 'whereabouts' clause?
  
• Why should the rules for India's cricketers be different from cricketers from other countries?
  
• Indeed, why should the rules for India's cricketers be different from superstar sportspersons from other countries?

Labels: bcci, drugs, icc, olympics, wada

Thus spake Jagadish @ 3:41 pm | Sledge/Read 4 sledge(s)
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ICC Champions Trophy in Sep-Oct 2009, but where?

At the ICC Board meeting, there were quite a few decisions which would have a short-term and long-term impact on the game.

On the first day, the ICC decided that the BCCI would meet representatives from the Indian Cricket League. This was a result of the ICL folks meeting ICC President David Morgan a couple of weeks ago. The ICC is no doubt serious about a rapprochement with the ICL after the way several Bangladesh players signed up for the ICL last month.

It is in the interest of cricket players and administrators that the BCCI and the ICL arrive at a solution in a reasonable timeframe. While I hope that it can be sorted out by the end of the year, I don't think things will move that fast. The ICL's new season has just started. Zee has invested far too much in the venture to agree to an abrupt end. My guess is that over the next year, negotiations will result in the ICL disbanding and players being allowed to first represent their domestic teams and then a year or so after that, become eligible to be picked for national duty. Will it result in the likes of some obviously talented blokes like Rayudu, Jhunjhunwala, TP Singh, Sathish or Shalabh Srivastava getting picked, or will the youngsters who've played in BCCI authorized tournaments be given priority?

The umpire decision review system will be trialled in four more important series (NZ v WI, Ind v Pak, WI v Eng & RSA v Aus) over the next 6 months. That's a good idea, except that the system as it existed in Sri Lanka should be fine tuned a little bit and then trialled. There are some obvious flaws, and it doesn't make sense to persist with them when series are at stake. In addition, I wonder why the ICC didn't think of trialling the system in ODIs and T20 games. After all, in those shorter forms, the chance of a wrong umpiring decision having an irreversible impact on the result of the match is so much higher.

In order to target having cricket included in the 2020 Olympic Games (venue to be decided in 2013), there would be further research done. It is worth noting that cricket wasn't included in the 2006 Doha Asian Games, but will be included at Guangzhou in 2010. The list of events for the 2014 Incheon Asian Games is not yet published. Cricket wasn't part of the agenda at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Even more farcically, it isn't part of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi because in 2005, the BCCI decided that it wasn't in favour of Twenty20 being included at the games. Was that a missed moment or what?!

The ICC Future Tours Programme is all set to be disbanded with effect from May 2012, as if anyone cares about it anymore!

On the second day, the ICC decided that the 2008 ICC Champions Trophy, which had been moved to 2009 a couple of months ago, would be held between September and October 2009. However, it would only last 12 days and would be held in one city (as against 17 days and 2 cities). The final decision on if the event would be held in Pakistan would be made after India's tour of Pakistan in early 2009.

So let's see how this could go. In Feb 2009, after India's tour, the ICC could decide that it was safe enough to conduct the tournament in Pakistan. But there would still be 7-8 more months to go before the start of the event. Countries could develop cold feet in that time gap, for real and imaginary reasons. So what would the ICC do then? The best option would have been to move the 2008 2009 next edition out of Pakistan, perhaps to West Indies (the 2010 hosts) and allot the 2010 event to Pakistan. By 2010, the concept of the ICC Champions Trophy would be gone anyway!

Labels: 2009 champions trophy, champions trophy, icc, indian cricket league, olympics, reviews, twenty20

Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:56 am | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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Could Twenty-20 find a place in the 2012 Olympics if they're held in London? I have my doubts. The cricketing establishment failed to get any version of cricket into the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games. There's no cricket at the 2006 Commonwealth Games at Melbourne either. Considering that around 20 of the countries who are members of the Commonwealth play cricket at a fairly reasonable level, it was appalling on part of the ICC to have let go the opportunity. Rick Eyre wondered about this a few years ago on cricket in the Olympics may not be a reality.

Labels: olympics

Thus spake Jagadish @ 5:48 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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