I hope the ECB stands up to this silliness before it becomes full-blown madness.

Absolutely.

The way BCCI handled the ICL issue has not gone down well with a lot of us here and now Modi making this statement is sure to ruffle a lot of feathers.

I’m a bit surprised why public opinion has been so muted about the way the ICL issue has been handled so far. I think if some of the Boards take a stand (ECB has all the reasons to do so) the matter should get resolved quite easily.

Secondly, I don’t really like Modi’s statement that IPL teams will get priority over players whose domestic teams make it to the Champions League. Apart from anything else, the other boards still have the power to cancel the “no objection certificates” and may start doing so if the IPL starts keeping players from representing their own states. Besides which, the Australian board’s been given the power to write the rules and regulations for the tourney, so it’s not his place to issue such a statement in the first place.

Meanwhile, it looks like the deal between ECB and Stanford has come through.

What you say is very valid.
I feel if we increase the number of teams to say 10, then the tourney will be able to accommodate 8 more international players and also allow the domestic players to play for their actual regions.
Anyway now I think the attention is going to shift to the Champions League and I already forsee huge problems.

Best example for this is the punjab team. In most of the matches all 4 foreign batsmen finish the job and even Yuvraj’s contribution is hardly noticiable. May be that’s why the Mohali stadium often looked half full.

After India’s victory in the T20 WC, I’d be shocked if a more predominantly domestic tourney didn’t arouse any interest. In Australia, a Pura Cup (4-day match) on a Sunday morning at the WACA will draw in roughly 1000 spectators (peak crowd), a 50-over day-nighter will draw in between 4,000 and 7,000. A domestic T20 will attract very close to a full house- that’s about 22,000 spectators.
I’m sure that if international representation was restricted to two players per game, there’d still be crowds, and the prescence of some international stars would give it that intrnational flavour- like with County cricket. If Dale Steyn and Chris Gayle, for example, sign as overseas players for Northants, for example, then that’s an added attraction. If five Kolpak players sign on for the Northants, then the international presence is too much, and everything I’ve read suggests that most County fans are fed to the teeth with the situation. It shouldn’t be necessary for the IPL to risk the same situation.

Confining international representaion to just 2 per team would lower the standards tremendously and tourneys like this would then be another domestic club affair, which we alredy have a plenty. The events then would hardly evoke any interest, just like the existing domestic matches and we’ll be back to where we were.

In fact I feel we should increase the number of max international players to 5 a side, have 10 teams and 2 matches a day. In this way we can develop 10 centres with world class facilities and also give cricketers all over the world to earn well.

Talking about the Auussies here, stats quoted by Gill are too inadequate to summarise their contribution. It is amazing that the 3 retired players (McGrath, Warnie, Gilly) and 3 upcoming ones (Watson, Marsh, Hussey) are creating such an impact here.

I’m happy to raise the white flag, just as long as you don’t take it as a sign of surrender.

The one team who’s fortunes I’m interested in is Punjab, because Shaun Marsh plays for them and I’d like to see how he does ahead of the tour to the Windies. Saying that, they have the worst name I’ve ever heard, so half of me wants them to lose on general principle.

The representation issue is really my main objection. An international flavour is fine, but I think that could be achieved just as well by hiring just four players per team, and play two of them at a time. After all, it is the Indian Premier League. And I’m happy to see that Dhawan, Y. Pathan etc. are doing well, but most of them aren’t really dominating the tournament. As you say, you can’t compare them to international veterans- yet they’re expected to play around them and try to keep up.

As to the media- it’s all relative. There are so many places where the media is completely state-controlled and propagandistic, that the Australian media shouldn’t even be on the radar.

As to your second post- I look forward to the Western Warriors crushing Rajasthan in the Champions League a greta deal. I wonder what the local IPL players can achieve against us, eh?

Also, why do you look at averages??Stats show you watever you may want to see isn’t it??
These internationals are the best in the world.You want me not to compare them with indian internationals( not even the ones who just about played a handful of matches) and to compare them directly with these big international stars.
They’ve still done very well.Hasn’t yusuf pathan been amongst the most destructive batsman in the league??
asnodkar,salunkhe,dinda,saha,dhawan,yomahesh,sangwan,gony,vidyut,nayar,takawale—–etc etc.
BTW Like I said earlier the orange and the purple cap are held by indians at the moment.
At this moment of understanding between us, i’d like to ask you to raise the white flag and peacefully respond.
Anger is a sign of frustration.I’d also like to know which team you like.

Cricinfo staff

May 18, 2008

Allen Stanford may be forced to consider scrapping the winner-takes-all element of his annual $20million Twenty20 match beginning in 2010 after England’s players have reportedly rejected the idea.

According to the Mail on Sunday, they are worried about the blame implications of perhaps losing £10million to the West Indies XI through – for example – a misfield, which could ultimately impact on team cohesion. Potential rifts and injury concerns are also a factor in their resisting even an alternative idea that every player in the game is paid a £500,000 appearance fee.

The players are backed by the ECB who can envisage a situation whereby a player plays down an injury in order to take the cash, and then perhaps does himself more harm, keeping him out of international commitments. Their preference would be to spread the appearance money across the squad, with a player’s share of the pot based on a formula determining their worth to the side based on ability and experience.

Last week Stanford’s idea hit another stumbling block when the MCC warned it would not sanction Twenty20 matches featuring Stanford’s trademark black bats

Talking about the Media, the concept envisages such a wide spectrum, that that you can pick up any kind of snippet you want, to prove a point. So what may be splashed in the media is something to be ignored. Generally the media here tries to sensationalise any issue, to attract attention, and in this process they tend to go overboard. I’ve now lost count of the number of TV ‘news’ channels I shudder to switch on when cricket series are underway.

But talking about umpiring, there are two in the elite pannel, Hair and Bucknor, in whose ATTITUDE we cricket fans here too had been noticing somekind of prejudice against the players from the subcontinent. In Sydney so many things happened together that things had to boil. What sent shockwaves was the manner in which Mike Procter ‘judged’ the whole issue. (Read what Justice Hansen wrote about the EVIDENCE on which Mike Proctor pronounced his verdict. The fact as per Justice Hansen was Symmo abused Harbhajan, Harbhajan abused him back in the most typical Indian (read it Punjabi) reaction ( In Punjab if you call any one a Fu***r, he will scream ‘Teri Maaki’ before fistcuffing you, or running away).

Talking about the elite panel of umpires, I think ICC MUST increase the numbers and its time we needed to rethink about umpires not being allowed to officiate in home series. ICC should allow technology to have a greater role, allow more referrals to the TV replays or any other technology as in tennis and allow the elite umpires to officiate in home series. What say?

I’ve got the batting and bowling averages in front of me, and in the top 12 for both there are three unkown Indians each- Dhawan, Badrinath and Asnodkar the batsmen, and Mishra, Shukla and Kulkarni the bowlers. The rest are taken up by either international players, and by already-established Indian internationals. Interestingly, Asnodkar and Mishra have only played three games each, which raises the question of why have they not played more? Obviously they’re capable players, but there hasn’t been room for them due to the international heavyweights who play instead, even if they don’t perform.

As to crowd loyalties- I’m certain that Mumbai fans want the Indians to win, and that Kolkata fans are going for the Knight Riders etc. The problem I have is that the teams aren’t that representative of Mumbai or Kolkata IMO when four internationals play for them, and a further four in the squad. It’s not just an Indian problem, either- I get disheartened whenever I see how many Kolpak South Africans are clogging up the English County system. But in Australian state cricket, for example, every state team has its home-town heroes, players who give their all for the state and rarely, if ever, get international recognition. It’s a little dissapointing to me that it takes a cavlcade of international stars to get the Indian cricket-loving public to get excited about this new tournament.

As to the Australian media- yes, it has its biases, like every other media outlet in the world. But I don’t know how much of the Australian media you’ve experienced
first-hand- it strikes me that you’ve made up your mind about it based almost entirely on their coverage of events like the Harbhajan monkey incident. I’m curious as to how the Indian media portrayed the outcome of the Sydney Test. I’d be shocked if pretty critical of the umpiring in that Test.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had to face some sweet-chin music on Monday when a city judge on Monday asked whether the cricket board had “bought the game of cricket” in the country.

Judge ND Deshpande of the City Civil Court raised the question after an advocate appearing for the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) argued that the BCCI, which is a private body, “controls all games of cricket and all the maidans [in the city] can be used only by BCCI affiliates”.

The MCA counsel was arguing against a case filed by Nikhil Mandale, an aspiring cricketer from Ruparel College, who was barred from competitive cricket, including the inter-collegiate cricket tournament of Mumbai University, because of his association with Essel Sports Private Limited.

Mandale sought a permanent injunction against the MCA, the university, and Ruparel College, restraining them from obstructing him from playing in cricketing events. He said the ban would hurt his cricketing career. “After all, the state and national teams are picked from amongst the best college and school players,” he said.

Lawyers Dinesh Gandhi and Ashok Sarogi argued that Mandale’s fears were real and born out of the overt hostility he experienced on February 12 at the hands of MCA secretary Hemant Waingankar at an inter-collegiate match at the National Club grounds.

Mandale said that during the match between Ruparel College and HR College, the umpire, for no reason, asked him to leave the field. When he refused, Waingankar “forcibly removed (him) from the field”, saying the university had debarred him from playing inter-collegiate cricket.

But advocate Sagar Talekar, appearing for the university, told the court that “no such instructions were ever given”. Talekar did not, however, deny that the entire Ruparel College team had since been banned from inter-collegiate cricket because of Mandale’s association with Essel Sports.

“Contrary to common perception, the BCCI is a private body but acts like it is a statutory authority for cricket in India,” said Sarogi. “It chooses the national team for international matches, so any bias is bound to affect the national interest and the aspirations of an individual’s sports career.”

Advocate Nihar Ghag, appearing for Essel Sports, argued that aspirants chose to associate with Essel as cricketers of note – Kapil Dev, Brian Lara, Tony Greig, Dean Jones, and others – had collaborated with the company to guide young cricketing careers through scientifically designed training methods.

The judge has ordered the MCA to file a written reply to Mandale’s contentions by April 7.

The orange cap is held by an indian and the purple cap is held by 3 indians at the moment.I haven’t even included indians who’ve made it to the squads of national teams and don’t get in2 the 11.ALso not included are indian test players , a few of which have made matchwinning contributions,and young indian internationals who’ve played a handful of matches.

You say theres no loyalty towards one’s team whereas recently dhoni gets booed in mumbai, sehwag nicks shoaib to the keeper and the kolkata crowd erupts.

If you don’t want to stay up late or don’t want to watch the IPL , have no valid info on it, and yet want your points taken seriously, i’d like to inform you that only some1 with unbelievably hypocritical values would do the same.
Of course the BCCI wants ICL players to be banned.I think thats a little childish, but what else could they have done, i have explained this point earlier in this blog.Scroll up and read it.I hope the issue gets settled.But to blame the BCCI for everything that they do is equally childish.

It’s good that you’ve gained info about the champions league concept which i’m sure the aussie media that you so hopelessly try to defend, would have kept hidden from you.

Thank you for your well-reasoned response. I’ll concede that maybe the boycott threats were exaggerated, but I think there’s some evidence of “thirst for power” in their treatment of the ICL. Anyone who plays for them risks being banned, even if they’re not Indian themselves- I’d be surprised if there wasn’t some pressure from the BCCI to ban these players, as I can’t think why else foreign boards would have a stake in which league their players play for.

Of course, if IPL still evokes interest overseas, which it is doing because of the presence of international players…then thats a bonus. In fact I do note that because of some Aussies playing here, you do have some, albeit passing interest in IPL.

Talking on a different note, Marcus, the performance of the Aussies (retired, present and upcoming) here has been awesome in every sphere and even off the field. Warnie is topping the popularity charts (despite his outbursts…or maybe because of them) and Shaun Marsh has been a revelation. The images of David Hussey sliding near the boundary ropes picking and throwing all in one motion, are even more vivid than his 50 ball century. McGrath continues to bowl in that copyright corridor of his and still continues to have a child-like enthusiasm. No wonder the Aussie team is THE best. Because of the big money involved in IPL, cricketers are playing with great intensity, and when that happens, its real fun to watch these cricket legends play or the youngsters match them. Marcus, the Australian media will never falsify score nor will the Indian media, because that is too objective…but don’t rely on them in matters which are subjective. They will not tell you how brilliantly Warnie has been captaining a lowly rated side or how he knocked off 17 runs from Symmo’s last over to win the match. The media will always first try to gauge what the popular view point is among their readers and then continue to feed it.

As a matter of fact, I haven’t watched any IPL. Do you know why? Because it’s on at 12:30 AM at Perth, and I’m not staying up that late just to prove a point to you. As for the top players being Indians, I’ve seen the batting averages, dominated either by overseas players (especially Australians) or by already well-known Indian internationals. And whenever they show the short scores on the news, it’s almost always been internationals who’ve dominated. But I guess the Australian media falsified the scores, right?

Doubtless you’re going to say that I have no right to criticise something I’ve never seen. Nevertheless, (even though I think the IPL has some good aspects) I don’t like the idea of cricket going down the road of soccer. You may not think that’s a valid argument, but nevertheless, it’s my opinion, and only a complete bigot would disregard that as “irrelevant.” Besides, as you said, it’s a free world.

And I’m a big fan of the whole Champions League idea. Just as long as WA gets to keep Shaun Marsh.

Local players don’t get attention??The top batsman and top bowlers have been indians.All the MOM awards (almost) have been won by indians.Young internationally unknown indian cricketers (mostly batsman) have made a name for themselves.
In an event of such a large magnitude after much thought you manage to come up with 2 grievances.That clearly indicates that the IPL has got most things right.
I don’t need to repeat myself on the champions league format that lalit modi has wanted to create and start in october.It would benefit cricket boards around the world too.Somthn most overseas cricket fans were tense about.
For example if mathew haydens home state were to win the aussie domestic competition, and chennai superkings went on to be one of the 2 finalists of the IPL,the franchise would have to pay his home state a minimum of 250,000 us$ to get hayden to play for them and not for his native state.
Are you really watching the IPL??
This is the first year and already we’ve seen team loyalties being built.Serioulsy how much IPL have you watched??
Don’t tell me you didn’t see sreesanth gettn booed by the jaipur crowd or dravid gettn booed by the mumbai crowd.Other examples of support would beshane warne gettn ganguly out and the crowd erupting into raptures.
I was skeptical about the ability of the IPL to give us such situations, but it has.Andrew symonds enjoyed huge support in hyderabad.That itself is enough illustration of my point.Even so, i’d like to give you another example when sehwag played the best innnings of the IPL in hyderabad(95 in 40 balls),there was pin drop silence in the crowd.Viru was surprised and waved his hands about trying to get the crowd going.The crowd then suddenly realised that it was a great innings played by some1 who they’ve cheered for all their lives.they proceeded to wake up and give him a modest applause.Later when quizzed about this incident , viru responded by saying that even though he was surprised, since he’s used to huge receptions even outside of india, it was good for the IPL and it showed how loyally the supporters are backing their teams.

Please make a relevant point that you don’t like about the IPL, because I don’t see any.

Regarding BCCI’s threat of tour boycott, it was more an Aussie media hype. BCCI NEVER made such a threat, though some officials wanted BCCI to do so.

What hit cricket followers here was the manner in which the match referee conducted the hearing and pronounced the verdict. Hayden and Clarke later denied hearing the word, the Umpires who were close by did not hear the word, NO ONE HEARD THE WORD, then on what basis did the match refree charge Harbhajan. (Read what Justice Hansen had to say about it)…Marcus, only an Indian can understand the shock waves that Mike Proctors pronouncements created. Marcus, for you all it was no big deal…the verdict was simple…if an Aussie cricketer says this upstart cricketer from the subcontinent has used a racial slur, that IS FINAL. This thing about taking an Aussies word but not an Indians, is someting which is not acceptable.

Yes, two wrongs will never make a right….and as Hayden has very aptly said, we need to understand each other.

Regarding the BCCI, I think they’re very over-the-top. I don’t mind them wielding a certain amount of influence, but when they make a big show of it (eg. threatening a tour boycott over the Harbhajan thing), then I regard that as intimidation, and I think it goes too far. And even though England and Australia may have wielded their power too freely in the past, I don’t think two wrongs make a right.

“But the PATHETIC SECTOR of english fans continue to rant.”
That would be one of the many different types of british fans.I don’t need to defend myself.My friends know how racially UNDISCRIMINATIVE, if thats a word, I am.

And finally , I required 2 posts to clear the wrong arguments mentioned.I think I did a good job.It’s a malaise with some cricket fans around the world that have far more opinions than they have information.
You tell me are you 1 of the paranoid hypocritical ones or are you from the well-informed and unbiased sector of cricket fans??

“What you and others completely fail to see is the damage the BCCI and the likes of Modi are capable of. This isn’t west versus east! India are now so powerful that other member nations in the ICC are effectively under their thumb. So when India want something done, they will always get a majority share regardless of its good for the sport. So the IPL happens regardless; the Asian Bloc, some of whom are still too financially insecure, will vote for whatever India ask of them.”
This is what I categorise as paranoid rubbish.
The indian board has done absolutely no harm tpo any1 but indian cricket.
With england and aussie dinosaurs at the helm ‘india’ will never get what it wants.Look, the indian board had to protect its interests against the ICL.
What would the english board have done in a similiar situation??
English fans should be putting pressure on their board and players to produce results.You keep getting walloped by half decent sides.
Also if lalit modi makes you insecure ,it is because he’s an indian.Why are you so hesitant to admit it??
Stanford has said that he would bankroll the event ONLY IF THE ECB PROMISED A BIG RETURN ON THE INVESTMENTS.
The IPL owners have put in money knowing they wouldn’t break even maybe even after the 1st 2 years.
What has india done that makes you think they’re bullying every1 around??
Don’t tell me you belive the aussie media??
For me the best thing to have happened to international cricket is the exit of SPEED.
I have a lot of english, pakistani, and aussie friends too.
Most of my aussie friends are in the media though they don’t cover sports.They have a completely different take on this.
Thankfully they’re very secure.

To the Indians on the blog: Get over yourself. I’m Indian and don’t see myself as a victim of colonialism. It happened 50 years ago. A lot has happened since. Modern Britons don’t have the time to plot new strategies aimed at the denigration of their former colonies.

As Lalit said, the scenes following yesterday’s game (Royals vs Chargers) featuring Warne and the other Jaipur players were unreal!

As I write this, Sangakkara is taking on Pollock, not through slogs but by way of beautiful, correct cricketing shots. What fun!

Try IPL. You can watch it on Sopcast (not sure of the legality though).

Warne is an absolute champion, probably the best cricketer of our age. I’d have loved to see him captain a Test match, the infinate nuances of Test cricket would illustrate just how intuitive and active his cricket brain is.

Respect, respect……..

Hey guys did you see the Royal Challengers VS Rajasthan Royal Match? Warnie is just too good. Throughout the match, his presence seemed to dominate the match.

The last scene, Yunus riding piggy back, with heavy pads on, on Warnie was an unbelievable sight.

The way Warnie has made these youngsters of Rajasthan Royals fire is just fantastic.

I agree that there is a great deal of condescension in most English and Aussie articles about the IPL or BCCI’s power in general. And to see international cricketers not moaning about coming to India is actually a welcome change. BCCI acting with a bit more humility and responsibility would go a long way in assuaging fears all around.

As Spiderman’s uncle (?) says, “With great power comes great responsibility”

Not long ago Eng and OZ were ruling the game. They treated other countries esp those from the subcontinent as dirt. Did anyone complain..NO-The reason, they had power.Like it or not it will be the way for a few more decades till Indians lose their desire for cricket. Till then stop whingeing.Your turn will soon come!

You write “There are inevitably a lot of young Indians who misguidedly despise Britons for our grandparents’ involvement (or not) of India’s colonial past,” but I cannot recal seeing any post on this or any other blog talking about what the Brits did or did not do 60 yeas ago.

You write “What you and others completely fail to see is the damage the BCCI and the likes of Modi are capable of…So the IPL happens regardless” but you fail to mention why happening of IPL is damaging. (Yes there are n number of purists here too who are aghast at the tamasha unfolding, but I don’t think that is what you are alluding to).

You write ” Having the IPL is one thing. Letting India – one member nation – control the actions of players in other countries (ref ICL players who are now not allowed to play county circket) is quite another”. Haven’t you noticed who is deciding what English players have to do ??! ( or when players participated in the Kerry Packer series wern’t the restrictions very simialr??) Why this selective memory?

And Will stop this “I cant help you” bit. It seems you need it more than we do. One would have thought that as a seasoned journalist you would have been more receptive to the critical comments to your article. In fact you should be grateful that we are reading your column and posting our responses.

You are welcome to India and, of course, you can wear any T shirt you want including the Ralph Polo ones made locally or even ones with ‘I love IPL?’

What excites me about Stanford, though, is his idea that cricket can be taken effectively to new markets to win new fans, not just to give existing fans something to spend more of their money on. Listening to his BBC interview I can almost imagine an English domestic competition which is to world cricket what the Premiership is to football.

If some of the attention and money in cricket is diverted to domestic competitions perhaps we’ll go back to having less and better international cricket, and with worldwide Stanford TV growing grassroots support in new places we might eventually get world competitions with more competitive teams than the current 8-10 usual suspects.

Actually my little joke was in response to the overwhelming self-importance, and one-eyed verbosity of so many Indian cricket bloggers.

Vidya, you are utterly wrong: India’s colonial past has nothing to do with it, though it speaks volumes that you should think it does. There are inevitably a lot of young Indians who misguidedly despise Britons for our grandparents’ involvement (or not) of India’s colonial past, sometimes rightly so. Britain did a lot of good and a lot of bad but I’m no expert. This is 2008 and I, as a 26-year-old Brit, have absolutely no opinion over Britain’s former dominance in India, or India’s unshackling of the colonial chains. This is cricket and it has nothing to do with colonies or empires, though I admit that most countries that were part of the Commonwealth or British Empire – who we brought cricket to – now want to rub our noses in it and wallop us in every sport. New Zealand, Australia, India, West Indies…everyone.

What you and others completely fail to see is the damage the BCCI and the likes of Modi are capable of. This isn’t west versus east! India are now so powerful that other member nations in the ICC are effectively under their thumb. So when India want something done, they will always get a majority share regardless of its good for the sport. So the IPL happens regardless; the Asian Bloc, some of whom are still too financially insecure, will vote for whatever India ask of them.

Having the IPL is one thing. Letting India – one member nation – control the actions of players in other countries (ref ICL players who are now not allowed to play county circket) is quite another.

If you can’t see that, then I can’t help you. But the colonialist argument is weak and plain wrong, and frankly saddens me that you can’t move on from that. And before you ask, I have a lot of Indian friends, all of whom live in India and yes I adore the country and will be going back there in October for a holiday, with my “I am not a colonialist” T Shirt on for you all to laugh at.

And Will, if you are reading all this, why do you want Stanford to counter Modi…leave it to the Dalmiya. He ( or some other disgruntled official here) will do so in due course.

Please, please if you disagree with an points raised adress them and try to build a convincing argument to support your beliefs. Accusing people who disgree with you of a ‘colonial attitude’ is as insulting as it is inaccurate. Colonialism is hardly a word to be banded about lightly, it is an ugly stain on history that continues today in many forms. To suggest that any non-asain writer who disagrees with the shape and potential impacts of the IPL as its run by the BCCI is by definition a colonialist I think pays a great disservice to those who have suffered and continue to suffer the true impacts of actual colonialism.

Yes, the ‘disqualification’ of Shane Bond is a great pity and not allowing ICL to hold tournaments, in my view is absolutely wrong. But this kind of monopoly over players is being excercised by ALL boards whether they have money power or not. . If Kevin Peiterson plays in any tournament not approved by ECB, he too will be banned. I am however surprised why the BCCI has not been taken to court yet under the MRTP Act.

You know whenever I read your blogs or articles from Malcolm Connor Scyld Berry I cant help thinking..you guys cannot get over your colonial attitude.Like it or not Indians are having the last laugh..