shashikant
BANNED
- Joined
- May 10, 2014
- Messages
- 242
- Reaction score
- -1
- Country
- Location
‘CA following BCCI instead of
leading world cricket’
.
.
SYDNEY: Outgoing chief of the
Australian Cricketers’ Association
(ACA) Paul Marsh has said that
Cricket Australia’s (CA) desire to
pacify India has made it a follower
rather than a leader on the world
stage, with potential dire
consequences for the international
game.
Marsh also said Australia’s star
cricketers had agreed to dip into
their own pockets — to the tune of $
10.75 million over three years — to
fund recommendations of the
Australian Cricketers’ Association’s
State of the Game report, the
players’ answer to the Argus review.
This will include $870,000 a year to
help grade clubs retain experienced
players and coaches.
While giving CA boss James
Sutherland and his team credit for
significant gains in Australian cricket
on the commercial front and for the
recent resurgence of the Test and
ODI teams, Marsh believes the
governing body’s tendency to put
financial considerations first has led
to many decisions being
compromised.
‘Big Three’ taking control of ICC
saddens Paul Marsh
He said he had no confidence that
an incident such as the infamous
Andrew Symonds-Harbhajan Singh
‘Monkeygate’ scandal would be
handled differently in 2014 than it
was in 2008, when Ricky Ponting’s
team felt betrayed by its board in
the belief it sought to safeguard
India’s tour before supporting a
player who had been racially
abused.
“I think CA has shown all too often
that it will succumb to the threats
of the BCCI [Board of Control for
Cricket in India] and every time they
do this the BCCI gets stronger,’’ he
said.
Marsh rated ‘Monkeygate’ alongside
the recent pact between India,
England and Australia to take
control of the International Cricket
Council (ICC) as the most
disappointing events of his nine
years in charge of the ACA.
“Domestically, CA is by and large
doing a good job and credit should
be given to its leaders,’’ he stated.
“Revenues continue to grow on the
back of increased attendances, TV
ratings, sponsorships etc, and this
has allowed CA to invest back into
the game.
“Players have been major
beneficiaries of this growth. The
high-performance area of cricket has
had an excellent last 12 months and
we have all been buoyed by this.
“Internationally, I see CA as a
follower rather than a leader. This
has meant their decisions are
compromised by their desire not to
upset the BCCI. Why do they allow
themselves to be compromised? It’s
because they don’t want to risk the
money that comes from India. At
times they are too financially
focused rather than driven by
principles.
“The Andrew Symonds-Harbhajan
Singh incident was handled
disgracefully, in my view. Players and
the integrity of the game were
sacrificed in the interests of
pacifying the BCCI on the back of a
threat that they would withdraw the
Indian team from the tour, which
would in turn cost CA millions of
dollars.
“CA’s decision not to call the BCCI’s
bluff was the catalyst for where
world cricket sees itself today. It also
severely impacted Andrew Symonds’
life and therefore career. It still
saddens me that such a brilliant
cricketer was cut down in his prime,”
he added.
Marsh fears the concentration of
power and wealth among the
strongest nations could lead to Test
cricket being played between only
three or four countries in the next
two decades.
“I think smaller countries will have
to focus their energies and resources
on the limited-overs formats as they
won’t be able to compete in Test
cricket and therefore their
investment will move away from
domestic long-form competitions,’’
he said.
“The other major risk I see is the
increasing competition between the
scheduling of domestic Twenty20
events [in particular the IPL] and
international cricket. There are
already numerous examples of
players choosing T20 events over
international cricket, and I think
there will be a tipping point for
some countries where international
series will be cancelled because the
quality of players available will be
substandard.”
Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2014
‘CA following BCCI instead of leading world cricket’ - Newspaper - DAWN.COM
leading world cricket’
.
.
SYDNEY: Outgoing chief of the
Australian Cricketers’ Association
(ACA) Paul Marsh has said that
Cricket Australia’s (CA) desire to
pacify India has made it a follower
rather than a leader on the world
stage, with potential dire
consequences for the international
game.
Marsh also said Australia’s star
cricketers had agreed to dip into
their own pockets — to the tune of $
10.75 million over three years — to
fund recommendations of the
Australian Cricketers’ Association’s
State of the Game report, the
players’ answer to the Argus review.
This will include $870,000 a year to
help grade clubs retain experienced
players and coaches.
While giving CA boss James
Sutherland and his team credit for
significant gains in Australian cricket
on the commercial front and for the
recent resurgence of the Test and
ODI teams, Marsh believes the
governing body’s tendency to put
financial considerations first has led
to many decisions being
compromised.
‘Big Three’ taking control of ICC
saddens Paul Marsh
He said he had no confidence that
an incident such as the infamous
Andrew Symonds-Harbhajan Singh
‘Monkeygate’ scandal would be
handled differently in 2014 than it
was in 2008, when Ricky Ponting’s
team felt betrayed by its board in
the belief it sought to safeguard
India’s tour before supporting a
player who had been racially
abused.
“I think CA has shown all too often
that it will succumb to the threats
of the BCCI [Board of Control for
Cricket in India] and every time they
do this the BCCI gets stronger,’’ he
said.
Marsh rated ‘Monkeygate’ alongside
the recent pact between India,
England and Australia to take
control of the International Cricket
Council (ICC) as the most
disappointing events of his nine
years in charge of the ACA.
“Domestically, CA is by and large
doing a good job and credit should
be given to its leaders,’’ he stated.
“Revenues continue to grow on the
back of increased attendances, TV
ratings, sponsorships etc, and this
has allowed CA to invest back into
the game.
“Players have been major
beneficiaries of this growth. The
high-performance area of cricket has
had an excellent last 12 months and
we have all been buoyed by this.
“Internationally, I see CA as a
follower rather than a leader. This
has meant their decisions are
compromised by their desire not to
upset the BCCI. Why do they allow
themselves to be compromised? It’s
because they don’t want to risk the
money that comes from India. At
times they are too financially
focused rather than driven by
principles.
“The Andrew Symonds-Harbhajan
Singh incident was handled
disgracefully, in my view. Players and
the integrity of the game were
sacrificed in the interests of
pacifying the BCCI on the back of a
threat that they would withdraw the
Indian team from the tour, which
would in turn cost CA millions of
dollars.
“CA’s decision not to call the BCCI’s
bluff was the catalyst for where
world cricket sees itself today. It also
severely impacted Andrew Symonds’
life and therefore career. It still
saddens me that such a brilliant
cricketer was cut down in his prime,”
he added.
Marsh fears the concentration of
power and wealth among the
strongest nations could lead to Test
cricket being played between only
three or four countries in the next
two decades.
“I think smaller countries will have
to focus their energies and resources
on the limited-overs formats as they
won’t be able to compete in Test
cricket and therefore their
investment will move away from
domestic long-form competitions,’’
he said.
“The other major risk I see is the
increasing competition between the
scheduling of domestic Twenty20
events [in particular the IPL] and
international cricket. There are
already numerous examples of
players choosing T20 events over
international cricket, and I think
there will be a tipping point for
some countries where international
series will be cancelled because the
quality of players available will be
substandard.”
Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2014
‘CA following BCCI instead of leading world cricket’ - Newspaper - DAWN.COM
