1. Srinivasan Heads Plum ICC Role by Cricket today
in Sports / Extreme Sports (submitted 2014-08-13)
Amidst huge furore within national and international cricket circles, N. Srinivasan
assumed the office of the ICC Chairman even while being denied reinstatement to
the post of the BCCI president by the Supreme Court of India. A brake in one
ambition has not halted the Chennai strongman's march into the top administrative
role in the sport's world governing body thereby, signalling once more his only too
dominant presence even in the midst of overriding concerns prevailing in
contemporary world cricket.
The tectonic shift of the all encompassing cricket body into a subservient version
under the auspices of the now nicknamed €big three€ was complete with the
coronation of N. Srinivasan as the first ICC Chairman at the end of the ICC annual
conference held in the last week of June at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
that also saw the creation of the International Cricket Council Executive
Committee. With the appointment, the ICC virtually ceded its role as the world's
premier decision making governing body, the initiative now more formally in the
hands of a new oligarchy that would essentially dictate the shape, direction and
future of world cricket over the next eight year cycle.
Under such circumstances it seems almost too mute a point to discuss if N.
Srinivasan will change his style of functioning which has tended to border more on
authoritarian rule, ruthless commercialization at all costs and self-serving interests
rather than about preserving and protecting the integrity of the game which despite
Srinivasan's denials has taken a beating in public perception not only in India but
also, the world over. The formation of the new Executive Committee comprising
the three major cricket boards had been the result of a secret collusion between the
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief, Giles Clarke, Cricket Australia's
Wally Edwards and N. Srinivasan himself over clandestine meetings dating back
almost two years although it was only about six months ago that the reality was
made public and put forth before other Full Member and associate boards.
Furthermore, given India's undisputed financial clout in international cricket and
Srinivasan's reputation and dogged defiance within the BCCI corridors, it seemed
almost inevitable that India would have a leading role to play in the restructure.

2. Given Srinivasan's hold, there would be no other representative from the BCCI to
helm the post. Apart from the money itself, it was the fact that opposition would
lead to more strife, an avoidable scenario in face of the quest for survival, that
forced several cricket boards of Full Members to move from outrage to
exasperation to tame submission.
That Srinivasan was getting ready to get down to the brass tacks of the business
was evident in the fact that even before being formally elected to the post of the
ICC Chairman at the ICC conference, N. Srinivasan was already assuaging the
fears and apprehensions of the Associate and Affiliate nations about falling in line
in the torrid game of survival. Full Member nations have had to accede to the
change in policy of the ICC's Future Tours Programme which will now be decided
on a bilateral basis, succumbing to the pressure of a well laid out, surreptitious plan
with a view to benefit generously from a share of the revenue pie that would keep
the sport alive and running in a struggling world scenario even if it meant that they
may not necessarily enjoy equal footing in terms of opportunities to ply their trade
home and away.
The story has been little different for the Associate and Affiliate members who, by
Srinivasan's laid out agenda and design as the ICC Chairman, are expected to find
themselves working more within their own domain rather being the face of new
additions at the international level. While Srinivasan emphasized the need for the
Associate and Affiliate nations to develop the sport at the grass root level, he did
not spell out how the Full Members would really engage with them in the process
of this development with India having held back from providing facilities support
to teams from Afghanistan and Nepal in the past and the opportunities to compete
on an equal footing with Full Members virtually drying up.
Agendas, as proposed by Srinivasan at the ICC Conference, seem rather conflicting
in that the proposal to develop the game indigenously for the Associate and
Affiliate nations while leaving the door open for qualification at the top level of
Test cricket but denying them opportunities of participation at the World Cup level
in limited formats after the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015 and then believing that
greater competition will boost audience and spectator numbers and eventually gate
revenue seems rather contradictory when in fact the competitive value of the sport
cannot be enhanced unless teams get more opportunities to pit themselves against
more formidable rivals to assess their degree of development.

3. There has been the perception for some time that cricket is operating in an elitist
fashion wherein it does not see the need for an Olympics to further its expansion
policy to access the greater reaches of the world. Furthermore, there has also been
concern that some of the Full Member nations have been allowed to languish at the
bottom due to internal strife and the Associate nations, while being seen as being
lent a helping hand, have been more of a hindrance than an asset and addition at
prestigious ICC events. Bridging the gap of competitiveness has not been a priority
on the agenda enough to see the kind of progress that concentrated attention brings
towards integrating more teams into the fold at the topmost level.
Under Srinivasan, one can expect pretty much the status quo where apart from the
few Associates that manage to break ranks and outperform will receive half the
share allotted to the Associate and Affiliates, the rest will have to remain content
with sharing the crumbs. Furthermore, one can expect partial treatment as there has
been a growing voice that untapped potential markets such as the U.S. and China
may indeed get a better look-in than some of the other regions that would form the
peripheral regions supporting the sport. Commercial motivations have clearly
dictated doing away with smaller, non Test playing nations for future ICC multi-
team events in view of dwindling spectator interest and the huge divide of level of
competitiveness between teams.
Two areas though are a big concern as far as Srinivasan is concerned. One is his
penchant for obfuscating the truth and the second being his blind pursuit of
ambition. One of his first statements since assuming office at the international
headquarters has been his self-exonerating statement that he recused himself from
the office of the BCCI president pending the Supreme Court appointed Mukul
Mugdal committee investigation into the corruption and fixing charges that also
involve his son-in-law and mentions Srinivasan's name on the list of people
considered under investigation. His version is so far from the truth that it is
blatantly exposed in the fact that his counsel have argued at least twice before the
Supreme Court of India for Srinivasan to be reinstated only to be shot down
repeatedly by the Supreme Court. The power struggle that went on before an
emergency BCCI meeting before Srinivasan's hand was forced provided plenty of
drama but little by way to suggest that the BCCI had more proactive powers over
arguably the most influential man in the richest cricket board in the world.
It is hard to see formidable opposition even amongst the cricket boards standing up
to Srinivasan given that the BCCI will earn about five times more than what the
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and almost ten times the revenue that
Cricket Australia (CA) will pocket. Whether the agenda then will be on improving

4. performances of existing Test members or forcing incapacitated Associate
members to outreach themselves for a few extra crumbs while being denied greater
exposure on the international platform or me
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