I don’t, as a rule, get into politics, because I know the vast majority of you want to talk cricket. But on a night where a respected, if an opposite side of the fence, reporter leaves the Telegraph and burn his bridges with past and future potential employers, you need to reflect on the world we live in. A world dominated by the bottom line, the buying of influence, the protection of the corporate over the individual, the all pervading interference of the business model over the need for fairness and openness. All run by an entitled elite, not willing to countenance those who don’t conform, toe the line or reflect on dissent.
But enough about cricket.
All those charges can be laid at the door of the ICC. I did not take much joy from the Irish victory over the West Indies, because, let’s face it, the ICC doesn’t give a flying one about the West Indies. Those of us of a certain age remember that 1980s juggernaut, the regular flayer of all before them, the complete misrepresentation of that team (calypso cricket my arse – they were professional, brilliant in their fundamentals, and ruthless in their implementation of their considerable ability) to make it seem as this was just a matter of luck. The current team is a joke, a pale shadow of the teams of even 10 years ago. It’s easy to pin it at the door of Chris Gayle and other players, but the mere fact that the IPL plonked their competition in peak West Indies test season said what the power brokers thought of their future. That it was them beaten by Ireland, despite the usual game performance by Darren Sammy and a hundred by Lendl Simmons, saddens me. This needs to happen to India. To Australia. To England again. Even then, no-one gives a stuff.
We live in a rigged world, and we try to get along. We live in a world where people who attack India’s influence on all things cricket are pilloried because we want a return to the old Empire, which is just mad. We don’t. The “Associate” countries are getting a bit closer each World Cup, and they have stirred up each of the last three competitions. This World Cup is designed to make money, the next one as well, and the one after that…. developing the game only matters in major markets, rather than the fairy story of Afghanistan, the Netherlands who are capable of bloodying our nose, and that Kenya have not really come on should be a sense of shame, not a shrug of the shoulders. Ireland are showing an exciting verve, have a pool of players, and are being told to sod off. Business. Money. TV contracts. Tail wags dog. Sport loses its soul.
I don’t feel like I’m watching a Cricket World Cup. I feel like I’m watching a business convention. A profit line rather than a celebration of the sport. A rigged game.
There’s a massive post on this in me, but I’m too worn out this evening.
Being Outside Cricket 
Dave Richardson opens his mouth again. Big mistake.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/cricket/cricket-world-cup-2015-dave-richardson-says-minnows-need-to-follow-irelands-example/story-fni2usfi-1227223259373
Ireland’s win puts pressure on Scotland, Afghanistan and UAE? Not on WI and, say, Bangladesh? WTF?
There’s also a characteristically perceptive piece about England from George Dobell:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-cricket-world-cup-2015/content/story/833743.html?CMP=chrome
Finally, Sky audience figures for Australia vs. England 275k average with 500k peak. Wales vs. England rugby peaked at 8.8m. Not a like-for-like comparison I know but just saying.
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And as if by magic…
Ladies and gentlemen, pray silence once again for Dave Richardson:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/cricket/cricket-world-cup-2015-dave-richardson-says-minnows-need-to-follow-irelands-example/story-fni2usfi-1227223259373
Just to take one example of Richardson’s ilk from the Guardian BTL: hblove turned the entire argument into one about playing *Tests* and making space for them in the calendar, while repeatedly and tediously spouting Ayn Rand flavoured BCCI soundbites, yet completely ignored the obvious differences between ODIs and Tests, the structural obstacles facing the likes of Ireland and Afghanistan, and the simple fact that the ICC has within the last 12 months deliberately made World Cup qualification harder *and* cut associate funding, while gifting the three richest boards 108% of the increase in the value of ICC rights. Yes, you read that right.
Time we all read this again. OK, I’m a qualified accountant, so others may find it a drag. But it’s brilliantly written, properly critical of the status quo in early 2014 (thus making its criticism of the power grab even more potent) and provides you with so much material to blow boring Randists out of the water.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/712173.html
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So you could forgive the 55-year-old lawyer for a moment of self-indulgence regarding a possible breakthrough World Cup title for the Proteas.
World sport, in a nutshell, right there. A corporate placeman, with the veneer of a playing career, to persuade you that they he is on the same side as you. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.
This after a weekend where Zimbabwe gave the most competitive performance of the losers. They just don’t care.
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I ventured BTL on the Guardian to make these points. Along comes hblove to defend the indefensible again. I will lose my temper if I reply. Perhaps best I stay away.
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Re’ the cricinfo article, the guy who wrote that has a very interesting blog and an excellent podcast on Associate and Affiliate cricket which I highly recommend.
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https://twitter.com/TheCricketGeek/status/567784583299862529
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One of the reasons Kenya fell away was poor management. Sports in Kenya attract all kinds of politicians – and not the kind you’d want to get involved in it. As an example, the Kenyan athletics federation loves to spend money on the “big men” traveling to Europe, but they can’t even be bothered to supply official kits to the athletes. Needless to say, the sportspeople tend to be less than impressed.
There are lots of problems in sport, and often athletes are not that well prepared for life in the spotlights. Cultural issues, naivete and such can ruin many a promising sportsperson.
If you ever wondered what became of Maurice Odumbe, he was recently on Kenyan television:
I am not saying he was without fault, but if you consider how corruption within the main boards is being dealt with, he has been treated harshly. it is not like “good governance” applies to the BCCI, WICB, CSA, ZC, SLC, BCB or PCB. And given the financial state of the counties, I’d be wary to say that the ECB is without issues. CA and NZC I cannot really comment on. So why does the ICC expect that Ireland, Kenya and the like maintain higher standards of governance, when the big boys themselves cannot even be bothered with the pretense of good governance?
Infrastructure tends to be rather limited in Associate countries, especially the poorer ones. It is not like a cricket venue costs nothing to maintain. Funding models that only benefit the big three (and the smaller seven to a lesser extent) do not help at all to spread the game, to get people interested – large parts of the population simply cannot afford it.
It is amazing that some people believe the nonsense that comes from the mouths of Clarke, Srini, Richardson, Edwards, etc. The ICC has more interest in developing cricket in the USA and China, even though little is happening in either of those countries, than actually supporting emerging cricketing nations, such as Ireland, Afghanistan and Nepal. They have indicated that themselves several times.
Honestly, international cricket is becoming a farce. You have the Associates, who are left in the dark, not knowing what to expect, and the big boys riding roughshod over them. It is like the Irish batsmen are being blindfolded, can’t see where the ball is being bowled, nor where the fielders are, and the ICC still adamant that they have to beat the opposition under such circumstances, to show that they belong. Oh, and if Ireland do make a catch, then the rules will be amended to make certain that it does not count – if only for the duration of that particular innings. Because everything must be done, to make certain that the big teams beat the “lesser” teams.
The “best” cricket can hope for under such an ICC is a future of scripted entertainment, like WWE.
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“it is not like “good governance” applies to the BCCI, WICB, CSA, ZC, SLC, BCB or PCB”.
Srini’s under investigation again:
http://sports.ndtv.com/indian-premier-league-2015/news/237704-n-srinivasan-slapped-show-cause-notice-over-ipl-broadcast-fee?
“The ICC has more interest in developing cricket in the USA and China”.
Agreed on the USA but an interest in China is hard to reconcile with this:
Andrew Nixon is keeping a running tally of comms’ idiocy about Afghanistan in today’s match. He’s being kept busy – although nothing yet to top the Australian newspaper that claimed in its WC preview that the Afghan players play cricket in the day and work in factories at night.
Meanwhile, George Dobell’s latest piece on cricinfo about England’s outdated ODI strategy is superb. Ed Smith, on the other hand, about Cook and Morgan’s captaincy is so dense it can bend light.
Finally, I’ve seen that the Sky audience for the England game was 275k average with a 500k peak. The England rugby match against Wales peaked at 8.8m. Not comparing like-with-like I know but just saying.
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You’d think, would you not, that they would have noticed the widespread attachment to all things Irish in several areas of the USA and thought that perhaps encouraging and celebrating Irish cricket might be a bit of a way in?
Certainly a better way in than a Texan fraudster with a foothold in Antigua.
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The interest in China would be due to the emerging market, and the value of that. Afghanistan and Ireland would not even appear to be peanuts in comparison. It is quite telling that it has not taken off, like say snooker has, which is basically another typical English game. Of course there are reasons for that, but inspired administration by the ICC is certainly not among them.
That the ICC don’t invest in China is however no admission that they don’t have the interest in the money such a market offers. Just evidence of a lack of vision, but given the sheer idiocy they have displayed in the past decade(s), that is hardly a surprising charge.
Everybody knows that the ICC is basically a private members’ club. As such, the rules and regulations can and will be changed on a whim, and dispassionate people don’t want to get involved under such circumstances. Who can blame them?
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Some interesting info on cricket in China here:
http://www.alloutcricket.com/cricket/features/aoc-book-club-second-xi
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Selvey piece on that umpiring error in the England game (truly the biggest issue facing the ICC today):
Followed by a characteristically gracious climbdown:
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Surely the point is that it’s an article about errors!
The inability to see this and take the opportunity to laugh at yourself just about sums him up.
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I find this man so irksome. If he had had a stellar test career then I could perhaps afford him some leeway, but he did not, so I will not. For someone so firmly in the public eye and potentially quite influential I agree, his lack of grace is shocking. I imagine Matt Prior being of a similar ilk.
On the other matters, the ICC stitch up is appalling and some of the stats, such as zing bails costing more than funding for cricket in China is downright shameful. So is the ranking system, disgraceful and an obvious it is designed to favour the big boys. What I would like more than all of this being rectified, however, would be to see a really strong and competitive Windies team with some great truly fast bowlers again. That would rekindle some great childhood memories. Strong Windies team = strong world cricket……..
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“For someone so firmly in the public eye and potentially quite influential I agree, his lack of grace is shocking.”
His fundamental issue is that he started his journalism career at a time when there was very little direct interaction between writers and their readership. The same was true of his cricketing career, in fact. So his mentality is one of a closed shop. He uses Twitter and comments BTL not because he enjoys and values interaction with ordinary cricket fans, but because he likes to assert the superiority of his understanding. It’s unedifying indeed.
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As Geoff Lemon said of Brad McNamara:
“It’s foul to see a professional from a big company crowing his superiority over an ordinary fan.”
Or as Alan Tyers put it a year ago:
https://twitter.com/alantyers/status/430783842535108609
Both quotes nail him, as far as I’m concerned.
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Good piece on the shrinking world of cricket:
http://sport.stv.tv/world-sport/310661-the-icc-seems-ready-to-limit-smaller-nations-ambitions-in-the-world-cup/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
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Just when it can’t get any worse it does. Terrific late post on The Spin about how the ICC rankings are biased against new nations:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/17/the-spin-icc-associate-nations-cricket-world-cup#comment-47705382
If Ireland beat Afghanistan they get 91 ranking points – Australia would get 131.
If Ireland beat India they get 132 – Australia would get 165.
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I can’t even begin to think how that makes sense to the ICC hierarchy.
At least our man Clarke will fit right in when he gets to be Grand Overlord.
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Yes Clarke will love it, more notes ($) to line his pockets! What I cannot understand is why have we not seen a single mainstream journalist share information like we see on here and the full toss and using their investigative skills, put it in the public domain to reach a larger audience. Why are they all so mealy mouthed and bland or even ECB and ICC biased………surely one of them must make a stand soon or one day…..
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Radio Five cricket show has been interesting this evening. They just aired an interview with Eoin Morgan, in which he said about death bowling:
“If you missed your yorker you went for 190 [strike rate], whereas off the short ball it was 160.”
Graeme Swann described this as “a load of tosh” and said “surely no-one in the dressing room is calling for 65mph off-spinning long-hops” (see, he’s not all bad!); he, Tufnell and Gooch speaking very pointedly about Darren Gough’s use of yorkers.
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Surely the key thing is ‘if you MISSED your Yorker you went for 190’ if you don’t miss it, like most other top tier bowling attacks, I would imagine the strike rate for accurate Yorkers is a lot lower……..Morgan sounding more and more like he has been Mooresed…….
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I was beginning to be very much afraid that Morgan had been taken away to a mysterious country house somewhere near Loughborough and turned into another Stepford Captain. Lately he can only speak in statistics.
But I was reassured by this little exchange (from the London Evening Standard about him being allowed to miss the game against Ireland in May because of the IPL . “The ECB have allowed the guys who have got picked up in the IPL auction … to miss the Ireland game in order to expose themselves to opportunities in the IPL to learn more about their game and excel in their game,” he said. When asked if it might appear a strange decision for the captain to skip the Dublin match, he added “No, I don’t think it does. Probably if you’re being a little short-sighted it might do.”
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Honestly, Morgan would not be in the team, nevermind captain, if he didn’t comply. His continuing espousal of ‘bollocks’ is evidence that nothing has changed at the heart of the England cricket set up – indeed it could be argued because Morgan has a way with words that the position has hardened. Moores appears to be ‘untouchable’ at the moment which makes Downton and Clarke and co even more secure – this is not about results or winning the world cup – it’s about the power, prestige and wealth of the management. Why anybody in their right mind would support this I do not know.
In the last week the whole issue of fracking has been voted on in parliament without a whisper in the media. The consequences of the vote which was deliberately hijacked by right wing amendments now put the minister above the law and see fracking as the determined future of UK energy policy with the right to frack under your house ‘cos they want to’ – you have no rights.
http://www.fwi.co.uk/business/farmers-lose-right+to+know-their-land-is-being-fracked.htm
What is happening at the ECB and ICC is no more than a mirror to what’s happening is this very worrying world in which we live. The elites now do what they like because they can – that’s the only rule of law that matters – the people/ fans/ supporters are well and truly fucked unless they get their act together and fight back – FIGHT NOT WRITE
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Response from Boycott in the DT, interesting comments on the batting line up…
“It is infuriating that England do not listen to OUTSIDE advice from people with knowledge and who care about the team”
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Early UK viewing figures:
http://www.boundarynews.org/news/day/month/year-1
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I’ve only watched just over half the Australia innings and the second half of India v Pakistan. I was absolutely shattered after getting up for the first and have had little/no inclination to watch any of the rest. I will admit that most of it is down to the hours but the fact that most of the games mean not very much means I have no reason to do any more.
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ICC website on ‘The Cinderella Story’ of Afghanistan:
http://www.icc-cricket.com/cricket-world-cup/news/2015/features-and-specials/85805/afghanistan-inspire-on-world-cup-debut
A story the ICC are in the process of making virtually impossible in the future.
If they’re like this now, imagine what the ICC will be like when Giles Clarke is President.
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