We would all have seen the sudden news from the ICC today about the sudden resignation for “personal reasons” of Shashank Manohar. As if he was reading my mind, our regular scrutineer of all things ICC has put pen to paper, or keyboard to screen, to give his quick take on what has happened today. So, take it away Simon H….
“The Presidential limousine is turning into Elm Street…. President Manohar is waving…. There seems to be some sort of disturbance in the motorcade…. “
A bright new leader, not without his flaws certainly but committed to taking on entrenched interests and elites with vast power and money, is removed from office before completing his term? His proposed reforms look certain to die along with him? His shady deputy leader is positioned to take over? It may not quite be Dealey Plaza, and nobody yet has been identified firing the fatal shot from the grassy knoll, but it looks very much like March 15th 2017 has seen an undeclared coup (bloodless, fortunately) in global cricket governance.
The first thing to say is that this seems to have come out of nowhere. There had been no hints, no nods-and-winks, that this was imminent. The global cricket press corps, those Woodward and Bernsteins of investigative “proper” journalism, seem to have been completely blindsided. But then it isn’t so difficult to be blindsided if you’re looking in the opposite direction…..
Shashank Manohar, eight months into his two year term as ICC chairman, has emailed CEO Dave Richardson that he is standing down for undisclosed “personal reasons”. Indian media sources are reporting that it was a pre-emptive move in anticipation of losing the crucial vote on ICC reforms next month. Those proposals involved a new revenue-sharing deal that would cut India’s 22% of ICC revenue, the creation of a Test championship that would slash the number of games teams played, the creation of two divisions of 9 and 3 teams with no promotion/relegation, qualification for all teams for ICC tournaments and various other measures. The BCCI needed four FMs to block the moves and have reportedly secured the support of SL, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Those boards are apparently against more money for themselves. Some indication of the economics are here: http://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/bcci-could-lose-180-190-million-in-new-icc-revenue-model-still-biggest-earner/story-YhtzoiMgonO7OJnriqJ7ZL.html
It appears that Zimbabwe have voted themselves out of $5m and the figures for SL and Bangladesh would be several times more that. This, obviously, is not
something you see every day. They are, more understandably, against permanent demotion to D2 (in Zimbabwe’s case) and playing a lot less Test cricket (in SL’s case).
The ICC will appoint an interim chairman until new elections can be held for a permanent replacement. Candidates need to be past or present ICC directors and to be nominated by at least two FM directors. The process seems most likely to carry on into the summer although it could technically be resolved next month. Unsurprisingly, the speculation from UK media sources is that Giles Clarke, known to be ambitious for the job but unable even to secure two nominations last time, is positioning himself for the job. The normally media-shy Clarke gave a rare interview recently: http://www.standard.co.uk/business/giles-clarke-the-cricket-nut-who-swapped-retail-for-oil-on-his-latest-innings-at-amerisur-a3463606.html
Clarke’s ambitions had been thwarted previously by non-Big Three FMs still furious over the 2014 Power Grab. Clarke has recently become a great supporter of returning international cricket to Pakistan: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/mar/06/pakistan-host-international-cricket-t20-series-world-xi-icc
Relentless churls might point out that Pakistan is not safe so Clarke set up his very own Warren Commission to come up with the result that had already been determined: http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/1086672.html
Therefore, we find ourselves today with what was yesterday’s distant possibility having become today’s imminent probability. The LBJ of cricket governance – with all the original’s probity, charm and intestinal fortitude for taking on those with money and power – is closing in on that crown he so coverts. If there’s one thing we should learn about the running of cricket, it’s never to say “it can’t get much worse”.
Being Outside Cricket 
So now it becomes all to clear why Selvey was out in Pakistan singing their praises. It stinks to high heaven. If they bounce Pakistan back into home test matches for votes at the ICC, and then there is another terrorists outrage they should put those responsible in the Tower of London.
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It brings new context to the term “lickspittle”
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All very worrying, although Manohar’s proposals for a two division test cricket structure, with no promotion or relegation between the divisions, were deeply flawed.
But is there any evidence that Clarke enjoys more widespread support among the FMs than last time around? Are there no other likely candidates? I’m genuinely posing these questions as a sanity check and hoping for clarification from those better informed of such things.
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Very good questions – I searched around for other candidates being mentioned and couldn’t find any specific names. Clarke appears to have been on a charm offensive although whether it’s been more charming or offensive remains to be seen! I guess the big issue will be whether the BCCI can put forward some sort of credible candidate.
Meanwhile, Glenn Maxwell has a fifty – is this the time he becomes a Test player?
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19th Test century for Steve Smith.
Only three players (Bradman, Gavaskar, Hayden) have got there in fewer innings (97).
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Anurag Thakur’s available….
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Elsewhere, S. Ravi decides to showcase again why he is so pathetic as an umpire.
Marginal lbw against Imrul Kayes given (umpire’s call on impact). Next ball, to a new batsman practically the same, but impact in line? He does not give it. Sri Lanka go for the review, and thus Taijul does not survive.
Bangladesh now 192/4, after Sri Lanka were dismissed for 338. Still Bangladesh marginally ahead.
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It all sounds rather like those “elections” for the EU council. Just how did Donald Tusk get elected and who the Hell is he?
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When was the last contested election to a senior cricket post? Neither Manohar nor Graves faced a contest….
It’ll all be stitched up beforehand. More than one candidate will be sold as “divisive” or “costly” or “wasting time”.
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That’s how we do it in our cricket club – it prevents unseemly squabbling and bad blood. Deciding on all the elected positions in the pub the week leading up to the AGM and then ensuring that on the night only one candidate is nominated for each position so there is never even a need to vote. Deals are struck and compromises reached over a couple of pints.
Of course, this happens in business and politics too.
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Newman loyally selling one of Strauss’s brainwaves:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-4320604/England-World-Cup-record-helped-North-v-South.html
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FFS, North v South is meaningless in an era when people move around between counties and countries – would anyone really take Ballance for a Yorkie or Robson as a Middlesex on?
Why not revive some of the weird ones :
Smokers v Non-smokers
Huntsmen v Jockeys
Over 30 v Under 30
Kent against all the world
NB one arm v one leg seems more difficult to cast than in the 1880s, recent Durham fast bowlers notwithstanding
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Brilliant idea!
I quote Strauss: “‘The north-south series is an example of our determination to leave no stone unturned over the next three years in our preparation for the 2019 competition and to change the perception of 50-over cricket domestically.’”
Thus, to change the perception of 50-over cricket domestically, it has to be played about 3500 miles away from England. Yeah, I am sure that that is one way to get the domestic attendance up for those games.
It is also brilliant to pick Dubai of all places, under the intense scrutiny of exactly 0 people who have any interest in this whole “North vs South” divide. And obviously Dubai will offer typical conditions that England will encounter in the World Cup 2019 as well. Why not stage it at the South Pole? The wicket might be a bit frosty, but then again, it might be easier to slide in, to avoid runouts … and it may also help practicing fielding on these slightly more unusual grounds.
As for the injuries that might result? Who cares? As long as you don’t lose a limb through amputation, you’re good to go.
This was gobsmackingly brilliant. Even Bs and Cs versus the rest would be a more sensible option, and that is basically completely random, since obviously none of the players had a conscious choice on which surname they would get at birth. After all there was an England vs Bs game about 200 years ago.
Broad, Buttler, Ball, Bairstow, Borthwick, Billings, Joe Clarke (promising), and a few others could be interesting. You can even add in Cook, simply so he has yet another opportunity to demonstrate why the ECB accidentally took the right decision – albeit at least a year too late – in sacking him.
Sometimes you wonder if you can be a sportswriter employed in the MSM AND have a functional brain at the same time. Since Newman seems unable to even begin bothering to articulate the nonsense of this idea, it appears wise to have doubts.
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“Change the perception of 50 over cricket domestically”???????
That’s why they’ll be shoving it into the out grounds during the new super duper cash generating 20/20 series then?
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Strauss could decide to move the Lords’ Test to Dubai and Newman would say what a brilliant idea it was.
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That’s because Newman doesn’t have to pay for his tickets. He would be flown to Dubai and be put up in a nice hotel, all on the DM tab. That’s the trouble with the whole cricket establishment.
They are living it up on other peoples money. Just look at the ludicrous salaries they pay themselves at the ECB while counties are in finacial peril.
Cricket is now owned, run and reported on by a bunch of freeloaders.
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Though random, wastefully expensive and utterly pointless the whole North vs South playing in the desert idea might seem to us plebs, within the groupthink confirmation bias mindset of of the ECB I’m sure it all makes perfect sense and is a really smart and dynamic bit of strategic thinking. That’s the scary bit and is why, for as long as people like this have charge of it, the game is basically f**ked.
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Is North the Kolpak South Africans plus Jennings and South the non-Kolpak South Africans?
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Second North-South match is taking place today. Rather than dumping the idea, the ECB want to expand it:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-4328046/North-South-series-expanded-help-England.html
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I note Andy Flower is there with the Norths and Souths too. We’ll have two well regimented, totally unimaginative teams coming back to England.Where ever Flower goes, Strauss goes, or is it the other way round. Wonder how many will come back still playing their own game.
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The South won by 10 wickets.
Competitiveness seems to have been as thin on the ground as the crowd. Dawson was the best bowler and Malan the best batsman.
The Guardian report notes:
“The costs of the project are high (deep into six figures)”.
It also notes:
“Strauss sprinkled some added motivation by ensuring that those who do not win do not make any money. Unlike a Lions trip, there is no tour fee, just prize money split between the winners of each game and the tour”.
The Stanford Super-series appears to be their funding model!
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I wish Strauss would apply these rules to himself. Everytime England lose he should not get paid.
Just to sprinkle some motivation into his job you understand.
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Empty suit make empty reappearance…
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I think that it’s more likely that a word is missing from that quote… try putting ‘bar’ in as the 5th word and i think it sums it up perfectly
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What an idiotic quote that is. First off, it’s a bit late to be worrying about being irrelevent. That ship sailed years ago.
Second, you are never going to be the richest sport in England.
It smacks of trying to drum up interest in flogging the rights to this new 20/20 goof off.
Whenever I hear Harrison speak I get the feeling he has just come straight from a call centre selling personal injury insurance or other such snake oil?
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I read this, and thought, what a load of utter bollocks!
This really won’t end well for anybody, in my opinion.
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No, merely the ambition to be “not the richest, but most irrelevant sport in this country.” And, I hate to say it, but the ECB is well on its way to achieve that goal.
While in principle it would be a good idea to, you know, make cricket accessible on the net, in practice I doubt that will happen – if only because it limits the value of any supposedly exclusive deal the ECB may strike with any broadcaster. And well, we all know what the ECB thinks of filthy lucre … And was it not Giles Clarke, who declared illegal streamers the biggest threat to cricket, rather than people who are made utterly indifferent to the sport, by the shenanigans in the various board rooms? It is doubtful that the SuperSport model (with geolocks and all) would last long in say the UK, simply because high-quality internet (with massive upload capacity) connections are easily available there, unlike most of Africa.
And again, it begs the question: who would be looking for such content, except for the ones who already have an enduring interest in cricket? Crickets chirp …
The reason that it works for baseball works is that the people who sign up for it, already have an interest in the sport. I think Dmitri himself mentioned he used that service before – also because it is extremely reasonably priced. Anyone expecting the ECB to make certain that such a service is reasonably priced? Other than Simon Hughes, that is.
But by 2020, it will be (with one or two odd exceptions) nearly 15 years that all cricket went behind the Sky-paywall in England. And if people don’t see the sport, know the sport, or even know that it is being played, why should they sign up for it?
Apparently because the ECB needed the Sky money, so they could spend millions on … telling people that there is cricket being played somewhere in England. And possibly more millions to tell people what the difference is between a bat and a stump. Brilliant, ECB. Utterly brilliant.
P.S. Dmitri, any progress on the pre-moderation issue?
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Fantastic win for SA in Wellington who are thus guaranteed to retain their unbeaten series record against NZ and look likely to go second in the rankings (Australia must lose the series in India or SA win the 3rd Test in NZ for that to happen).
Morkel looked back to something like his best since his injury. Him against Hameed could be very interesting indeed (assuming both can manage to remain fit).
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A couple more points on the Wellington game:
1) Maharaj has taken two five-fors at under 14 in the series. The only visiting spinner to take a five-for in NZ this decade is Narine. Lyon has a good average there but NZ has mostly been a graveyard for visiting spinners (Panesar averaged 70, Herath 78, Jadeja 85 and Yasir Shah couldn’t take a wicket).
2) SA missed three chances while bowling NZ out cheaply. Sides do not take every chance – unless they’re England in India, of course. SA also caught some goodies, like this in the first innings:
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Think we all knew this:
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/harrison-in-favour-of-four-day-tests-7hsk70zb7
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Some of what Harrison said is quoted on Cricinfo:
“with Test cricket there is a risk of us loving it to death”.
Not from them there isn’t.
“Can we create a better product by introducing a four-day format in certain conditions? My personal view is that I don’t think it works everywhere; like day-night Test cricket, it has to be the right time, right place, right conditions”.
We know the BCCI are against it. That sounds like India can keep their five-day Tests while we have four.
“”Test cricket will become special and unique. It’s there and healthy and there will be less volume, which should be seen through the context of it being more positive. In this country Test cricket will be special, an occasion rather than a diet to serve the appetite of the grounds”.
Get ready for quite a bit less, in other words. How will the reduction be allocated? England will stop playing Australia and India so much? Dream on…. it’ll be everyone else who’s hit. NZ playing four Tests in a whole decade in England is the kind of diet other non-B3 teams can expect.
“We are still filling grounds for Tests and we are still the team that everyone wants to come and play against. A Test series in England is still regarded as the pinnacle for many players from overseas.”
I remember those sell-outs for the SL series last summer. Let’s not mention how Newlands, the Wanderers (on weekends certainly) and Christchurch have all been full in recent years. Is it that difficult to make grounds look full if the capacity is 15k in a country of 60m? And did ABDV seem to regard playing in England as his pinnacle – and does it even matter?
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“Can we create a better product by introducing a four-day format in certain conditions?”
Anyone who uses the word “product” is not a proper cricket lover, but a corporate suit. So we are now going to have a mixture of both 4 and 5 day test matches. The man is a zoom.
“Test cricket will become special and unique. It’s there and healthy and there will be less volume, which should be seen through the context of it being more positive. In this country Test cricket will be special, an occasion rather than a diet to serve the appetite of the grounds.”
I challenge anyone to read this paragraph and not want to despair. So was cricket never special before? Never unique? Why just in this country will test cricket be special? When he talks about an occasion it sounds like they would like to play all the test matches at Lords.
People like Harrison are trying to re-invent the wheel. We don’t need a new wheel we just need to put some good tyres on the wheel and let it roll.
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An empty suit. Thought it from Day One, and still do. He’s done nothing to convince me he’s not another snake oil salesman, who will only quantify success by his ability to implement a “change”. We watch sport to escape the drudgery of our everyday lives. In that we constantly hear how we need to change, to evolve, to re-process, to think outside the box. I’m still convinced if you concentrate on your core role, and not seek to be the one who has to change things, you’ll do a better job.
To me, all these senior types have to have a radical change to an old institution (which is old because it has worked) because they can quote it in their next job interview. The poor saps who have to live with it after they are long gone are collateral damage. But you need them, because they keep the damn thing going.
Harrison’s utter bullshit, invoking my favourite word “unique” (that’s a red flag indicating “charlatan” in my warning book) and as you say, Mark, “product” rather than “sport” or “competition” might fool some loyal followers of the used car salesman management text books, but it will never fool me when it comes to sport. Sport is not a product. It is sport. In essence, people playing. Wouldn’t it be nice if we got back to that?
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Absolutely Dmitri. We watch sport to escape the drudgery and antiseptic corporate world we all have to live in. And then we get empty suits like Harrison who might as well be working for some faceless widget factory trying to come up with a new super improved widget.
Having concocted some sham customer survey full of hand picked half wits he now wants to create the new coke. And remember how that turned out?
Of course the only reason for the new super improved widget is to increase revenue. But empty suit can’t admit that, so he hides behind platitudes about creating a special and unique new product. I wish he would just fuck off, and leave us alone.
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A third Harrison interview in the last couple of days and the third showing his desire not to be “irrelevant” by being behind a paywall:
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He might have grown fat but ask Durham, Yorkshire, or even Colin Graves and his family!
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The county chairman meeting must be getting close:
How many of those above cricket in his table are “small packages”? Is the Tour de France a “small package”?
T20 is one place above Test cricket – so we must bet the house on T20 and get ready to scrap all Test cricket except the Ashes (which is what Hughes wants)?
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What utter utter bollocks.
Any “index” that puts the Premier League 6th should be laughed off the planet by anyone with functioning critical faculties and even the most basic awareness of sport in this country.
But no. Not 39. He sees something he likes and swallows it whole.
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I looked up the Yougov Sportsindex and it said
“SportsIndex is a measure of perception among the public, allowing 7 key metrics (Buzz, General Impression, Corporate Reputation, Recommendation, Customer Support, Value and Quality) to be accurately tracked across 50 sporting events covering 17 sports simultaneously”
So it is not really which one is most popular, but sporting events which have other things such as “value” “corporate recommendation” etc?
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Buzz.
Lost me at that.
What is the unit of buzz? Light-years?
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No matter the merits or otherwise of the survey, that tweet is so estranged from the truth that it should be paying more alimony than John Cleese.
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“Buzz score – the net difference between the amount of respondents hearing positive news and those hearing negative news about an event during the course of the year.”
No wonder cricket ranks so high, with the MSM in the UK. It is like asking which world leader is the best, when the sole media voices you’re relying on are all owned by the North Korean state.
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Every child knows that buzz is measured in Aldrin
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A short competition, spread over the better part of 2 months? A short competition, with God knows how many fixtures (60 minimum)?
Oh, and what were the complaints again about Cricket World Cups? That it took too long? Let’s have a tourney that runs even LONGER than that. Let’s have a tourney with even more fixtures than that. Let’s have a tourney with even more utterly irrelevant games than that. And of course, this is proposed by a guy who is deadset on a 10-team World Cup.
It seems that any display of a modicum of intelligence is an outright impossibility for Simon Hughes these days.
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We’re fucked, well and truly. I feel like I’m drowning in bullshit from these cretins!
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What that table really shows……. which 39 ignores……. is that numbers 1 2 3 and 4 on that list are free to air.
The public likes watching free to air sport. But that doesn’t pay the big wages. And while the premiership is not free to air it has high a profile highlight package shows on both Saturday and Sunday nights. So 5 out of the top 6 are in some ways on free to air tv. Not sure what the status of The tour de France is? I know channel 4 used to cover it.
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Tour de France is on ITV2, I think (I watch it but can’t remember) so on the free-to-air digital package.
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Right, so all top 5 sports in the public awareness survey are free to air. It really isn’t rocket science.
It’s pricelss that a representative of the ECB is usung these statistics to make a political point. His organisation has gone out of its way to hide cricket from the public.
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FA cup at 10!
This is obvious nonsense. Wimbledon and the 2 Olympics were a couple of weeks, football takes up most of the year. The papers cover football with the odd column for whatever else is going on. Football dominates media coverage to such an extent that you can only wonder who was being surveyed. Perhaps it was the British Antarctic Survey?
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It may have gone unnoticed, but up to lunch, Day 5, Bangladesh have played a really good Test against Sri Lanka. After bowling them out a second time, Bangladesh needed 192 from 74 overs to win the second Test, and draw the series in Sri Lanka. Which would be an excellent result for them.
Right now, after 22 overs, they are 68/2, with Tamim and Sabbir Rahman at the crease. Let’s hope they can complete a famous win.
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And after 35 overs, they are 123/2; just 68 needed (192 was a miscount on my part) for a famous win for Bangladesh, from a minimum of 39 overs.
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And at tea, Bangladesh are 156/4, with Shakib and Mushy at the crease. Just 35 more needed for a famous (and well deserved) victory. Hope they can pull it off.
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Bangladesh have done it, and won the second Test by 4 wickets. They also share the series 1-1.
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D,
I reset the comment moderation and it still hasn’t worked. I’m at a loss as to why this is happening. We have moderation for the first time someone comments on the blog – as a spam filter – but nothing else. I can only apologise and hope it either rights itself, or we can mod quite rapidly.
Dmitri
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Just as well Harrison hasn’t had his way yet with bringing in 4 day test cricket as this test match went well in to day 5.
Never mind, he is going to make test cricket “special and unique.” I can’t wait!
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“The balance between international and domestic cricket will change. We have to be careful about that and that is my fear about private ownership. Controlling private ownership will be difficult and controlling the ambition of very successful tournaments will be difficult.”
That had me chuckling. The ECB sees itself as a nationalised industry!!!!
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No worries Dmitri. Not sure what causes this either, but it looks like it is a bug.
It cold well be that some code gets confused by the apostrophe in my handle, or something of the sort. I could try and drop the apostrophe and see if that works.
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Dmitri that is a very funny, and revealing quote. They are terrified of becoming bypassed by private francise cricket.
One of the reasons they are so desperate to push through this new 20/20 is they want to control it, and the players , and get a cut of the money before some private entity sets it up on their own. Their big fear is the ECB gets frozen out, and they become powerless and meaningless.
A talking shop of over paid suits, with reduced income coming in. They would all have to go and get proper jobs then.
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Selvey reminds me of that VW golf advert in the 1980s. It had a man coming out of a casino, and the voice over said…….” This is the man who put all his chips on black, just as they all came up red.”
Its a good rule of thumb that if he is for something, you know it will be wrong.
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Colin Graves speaks!
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/193291-PSL-2017-ECB-chairman-slams-Imran-Khan-for-disrespecting-international-players
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Can we look forward to him having as much (or anything at all, in fact) to say about English cricket at some point?
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Whaddya mean your not following the latest from Dubai, another North v South rout? Oh, hang on, not on tv, pay or free, nor on radio played – Comma’s game another brainfade
Oh, and Ind v Aus was apparently slow on day 4, thankfully soon a day 5 will be abolished to prevent tedium invading further…
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Looks like another win for the South unless the North’s tail can pull off a miracle.
The day’s outstanding performer: Sam Northeast.
Chances he’ll be selected by England: 0.1%.
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Look, this is a clever ECB stratagem that it isn’t about anything as knuckle-headedly obvious as seeing who displays the most ability or potential as a limited overs player. Andy Flower already knows all that and has provided the selectors with their list of faces that don’t fit.
It’s not intended to provide entertainment for the masses either. A game of cricket, played by scratch teams comprised of some of the best English cricketers, that the general public can actually watch and enjoy on the telly FOR FREE? How could you even think such a thing? Talk about a sense of entitlement! If you want to consume the Product and be “engaged” and “enthused”, you bloody well pay to be “engaged” and “enthused” by the Product.
No, it’s actually about… eh…well… eh… Don’t help me – I DO know this! It’s about… Let me see… It’s about, eh… Oh, I give up…
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Australia have batted out Day 5 for a draw – and losing just four wickets in the process (Renshaw, Smith, Shaun Marsh and Maxwell). The last two of those wickets fell when the draw was all but guaranteed, after a mammoth 62-over partnership between Marsh and Handscomb.
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