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India Criticizes ICC, Threatens no-confidence motion


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THE delicate truce between the International Cricket Council and its most powerful member is under threat after India launched an extraordinary verbal attack on the game's ruling body in the wake of Saturday's World Cup final fiasco. Speaking to the Herald from Barbados, where he watched Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando bat out the final, farcical overs of cricket's showpiece match in darkness, Indian secretary Niranjan Shah criticised the ICC for becoming "more and more bureaucratic" and costing its members money by "unnecessarily employing so many people". Additionally, and concerningly, Shah refused to rule out the possibility of proposing an unprecedented no-confidence motion against Malcolm Speed's administration at the next chief executives' meeting in June. Cricket observers have long feared a split between the ICC and India, the nation which accounts for as much as 80 per cent of the game's global revenue. To date, it has suited the Indians to remain in the ICC fold, despite the occasional disagreement. But, following an eight-month period in which the game lurched from the shambolic forfeited Test at the The Oval to the embarrassing stoush with excommunicated umpire Darrell Hair - and now to a diabolical World Cup - confidence in the council's leadership has been shaken to the point that members have begun voicing their discontent. "We are not that satisfied," Shah said in relation to the ICC's recent performance. "It is becoming more and more bureaucratic. My board is of the belief that cricket is a simple, enjoyable game, but that is not how it appears at present. "The ICC has so many staff members. It is unnecessarily employing so many people and that costs the other members. The ICC should move away from the bureaucracy and become more simplified. They should be concentrating more on the game." Later, when asked whether the discontent of the Board of Control for Cricket in India could manifest into a vote of no confidence against the ICC at the next chief executives' meeting, Shah added: "Why not? It is something we will discuss with our board. Some of it will depend on how other boards are feeling. It is fair to say that there are quite a few things to sort out at the next chief executives' meeting." Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Duleep Mendis was another to leave the door open for a no-confidence motion against the ICC's leadership. "That is something we will have to discuss," Mendis told the Herald from Colombo. "What happened [in Barbados] was unsatisfactory and unfortunate," Mendis continued, referring to the absurd situation forced upon his team in the closing stages of the World Cup final. "To have players out there in the dark cannot be good for the game." The ICC has hardly endeared itself to its membership in recent times, failing to take responsibility for many of the crises to beset the game and, in the case of Hair, engaging in supposed underhanded tactics, including the leaking of personal emails exchanged between the former umpire and Speed. "Any comment I make will be monitored by the ICC," Hair said when asked to comment on his dealings with the council prior to his forthcoming unfair dismissal suit against them. "I do not intend to give them any ammunition." In the case of the World Cup, Speed has at various stages insisted that poor turn-outs were not a concern because tickets were sold out, blamed the problems of the tournament on the local organising committee (which the ICC appointed) and defended the long, unpopular format on the basis that it kept cricket in the newspapers for longer periods. Speed later admitted the World Cup would be shortened in future. India, scheduled to host the 2011 World Cup final, will support the move. "We would definitely think the tournament should be shorter," Shah said. "There have been problems this time that we would like to avoid. The tournament has been too long." http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/india-lets-fly-at-icc-over-final-fiasco/2007/04/29/1177787973979.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

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Re: India Criticizes ICC, Threatens no-confidence motion Anything BCCI says now will only come across as sour grapes. ICC stuffed up sure but haven't they been doing this for god knows how long??? ICC has no clue how to run the sports anyways. The game was played in good spirit before but now we have betting mafia, match fixers, chuckers, dopies, umpires that have no good performance to their credit, ICC referees that are hugely biased et al in this great sport. Now we have mindless stupid rules in place. Wonder why BCCI didn't kick up a fuss about the rest of the issues? It is still not late if you ask me.

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