Madhuru R Konduru
Indianapolis, September 22, 2016
United States of America Cricket Association, under suspension last year, feels that the International Cricket Council has not allowed it to manage its affairs independently. Madhuru R Konduru, former president of Cricket Michigan, a full member of the USACA, said on the other hand the ICC is reluctant to interfere in the domestic affairs of member cricket boards. The cricket boards of India, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies have enjoyed this privilege.
The United States of America Cricket Association, USACA, has not enjoyed this independence in running its affairs though. Will USACA get the justice it deserves? The Executive Committee of Cricket Michigan wonders whether justice will be rendered based on righteousness and not the changing man made rules and regulations.
The Board of Cricket in India, the dominant force at the ICC for the last two decades, is in a bitter battle with the ICC. While the BCCI despite being in an internal turmoil with the implications of the Lodha Committee, continues to play the largest asset card in the cricketing world, the status it has enjoyed purely due to the huge eyeball numbers and spectacular television rights profits it has earned.
The story goes that the BCCI, wanted ICC's intervention in helping them stall the Justice Lodha Committee that was forcing a major overhaul of cricket in India. With ICC refusing to shield BCCI from the Lodha Committee terming it an internal affair of one of its 105 members, according to Madhuru R Konduru.
The latest news is that the BCCI is questioning the Champions Trophy budget allocation, claiming it to be multiple times over what was allocated to the BCCI for the T20 world cup hosted last in India and wants justification for ICC's accounts!
The current ICC Chairman Mr Manohar is a distinguished leader of Cricket who was involved in BCCI's administrative reforms including the outplacement of Mr Lalit Modi and Mr N Srinivasan as well as the exclusion of IPL teams Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals and subsidize six per cent of ICC income to BCCI recently. He has surprisingly quoted to say "what the ICC do in this? When it comes to the law of the land, everyone, including the ICC, has to abide by its order. We can't sit in judgement of the highest court of the country."
With respect to the BCCI, the ICC Chairman is reluctant to interfere in the domestic affairs of a member country. He will not do so without being formally requested to do so by the member concerned, to note the ICC interfered in USA's internal affairs -why?
It's unlikely that the ICC will take action against Cricket South Africa (CSA) for its quota system as the ICC views issues regarding unwanted governmental interference in a serious light, but also on a case-to-case basis. However, ICC can take action only when a country officially lays a complaint.
This is in contradictory to what is being carried out in USA as against its intend with other full members like BCCI, Pakistan, WICB and CSA, questions Cricket Michigan.
ICC is well aware of the fact that after India, USA and China are its biggest potential market. With China being a little slow in acceptance of the sport and USA with its huge Cricket passionate expat population is the best bet for ICC commercially.
To quote, recently India hosted West Indies and played in two T20 games in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the USA with the ICC approval.
Hypothetically, how would BCCI's President Mr Anurag Thakur feel when BCCI is suspended using the ICC's constitution Article 2.9 and Pakistan and Bangladesh get to play in Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, New Delhi with the ICC's approval? Or how would WICB's President Mr Dave Cameron feel when WICB is suspended using the ICC's constitution Article 2.9 and England and Australia get to play in Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica with the ICC's approval?
USACA Executive Secretary Sankar Renganathan was quoted as saying "To set the record straight, the USACA board supported the BCCI hosted India Vs West Indies two T20 game series in Florida. Having only one interpretation for the only one constitution for ICC should be the way forward and can resolve all such inconsistencies with respect to membership."
Cooperative efforts from the full, associate and affiliate member associations is the need of the hour and critical in the best interest of the sport. ICC, the global governing body should indeed remain global in nature and focus on developing the sport across the world without any bias and prejudice.
Looking back at history, the BCCI took over from the ECB as the most powerful member of the ICC. the BCCI has to thank the initiatives of Mr.Jagmohan Dalmia - key figure / forefather of modern Cricket commercialization, followed by the Zee Sports and some former Indian Cricketing legends for creating the entity of ICL ( which eventually lead to the birth of IPL ) and Mr Lalit Modi, as its creator and architect of IPL.
When the now non-existent league ICL posed a threat to take away the multi million eyeballs from the BCCI, the BCCI worked hard and arm-twisted ICC to change the constitution so that the demise of ICL happened. The current ICC Chairman was the then BCCI President and the BCCI nominated Mr Lalit Modi in a three member ICC committee and thus was ICL outlawed.
This lead to the advent of IPL, BCCI`s billion dollar baby, its game changer and revenue generator that made BCCI the all powerful Cricketing body in the world. Mr Lalit Modi being the chief architect and was mastermind behind IPL creation.
Not forgetting the consequences of the government interference which could lead to the suspension of a member board, the ICC had earlier invoked Article 2.9 of the ICC's Articles of Association to pull up the Cricket Association of Nepal and Sri Lanka Cricket, when their autonomy was undermined by the respective governments. ICC has never invoked for Pakistan or WICB or BCCI, when there is a clear indication of Government interference in all of these full members though WICB is not a country by itself and is a group of countries.
Does it mean even if some organization from India writes to the ICC (let us say they have started a Board of Care for Cricket in India), will ICC suspend the current BCCI - Board of Control for Cricket in India?
Meanwhile the Executive Committee of Cricket Michigan congratulated BCCI on playing their 500th Test today in Kanpur, India.