BCCI, Cricinfo and cricket in India

[SachDan]

By Siddhartha Vaidyanathan who covered Indian cricket for CricInfo between 2003 and 2008 and also wrote two of the finest articles to have ever appeared on cricinfo. Check out these articles if you haven't read them before! http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/376791.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/decadereview2009/content/story/439734.html The Ranji Trophy quarterfinals began on Friday. NEO, an Indian pay channel that has the rights to domestic cricket in India, was showing the Karnataka v Madhya Pradesh game. I was among those who were trying to find out the scores in the other three games. Like everyone else, I was left puzzled. Many cricket fans rely on websites like Cricinfo for live updates from matches. But one had to wait till lunch to find any updates there. A friend of mine on Twitter eventually directed me to the BCCI website (So poorly is that website designed that it crashed my laptop a couple of times and drove me away from it for good). Why are none of the other websites providing live scores? Because the BCCI forbids them from doing so. Here’s the deal: the BCCI claims, in its actions at least, that it owns scores of cricket games played in India. So if you walk into a Ranji Trophy match that’s not being televised, armed with your smartphone, and live-tweet a whole day’s play, the BCCI may try and throw you out. To me that’s absurd. Legally, a cricket score is public property. It belongs to you and me. But the BCCI seems to want to claim ownership of it. On one hand you have a dying Ranji Trophy and on the other hand a BCCI refusing to let people publicise the scores. The BCCI’s claim to ownership doesn’t end here. You might have noticed a saga that plays out every year before the IPL – Lalit Modi draws up stringent media guidelines which includes restrictions on photographs taken at grounds, media houses (especially news agencies like AP and AFP) threaten to boycott the event, Lalit Modi gives an inch, media houses call his bluff, the tournament starts, Lalit Modi gives a few more inches, and then everyone agrees to the terms and life goes on. One crucial detail is often forgotten. Websites like Cricinfo, Rediff, Yahoo, cricketarchive, cricbuzz, holdingwilley – websites that cover cricket day in and day out – aren’t recognised by the BCCI as media. For close to 10 years, the BCCI has refused to grant websites accreditation to international cricket games in India. Their rationale? If they grant websites accreditation, they will have hundreds of people creating cricket websites and wanting to cover games. So journalists from these media organizations need to pose as if they’re officially covering games for a magazine or a newspaper (Cricinfo writers have applied for accreditation through Wisden Asia Cricket, Cricinfo magazine or Wisden Cricketer, Wisden Almanack, The Times (London), The Guardian etc; Rediff writers have been officially covering games for India Abroad). So here’s how the accreditation process used to work in India until a couple of years ago (there seems to be a centralised system in place now): an organization needs to send a letter to the state association hosting the game, requesting to accredit their employee. If approved, the journalist would then pick up his ‘media pass’ a day or two before the game. For years, writers from Cricinfo, Rediff and other websites have been in a constant state of tension over their media passes. They would often be made to run from one state official to the next. Instead of focusing on what to write and who to interview, these journalists spend hours before the game trying to procure a media pass. Also, they have had to endure the humiliation of being thrown out of press boxes during games. They have been forced to be sly when in the press box, trying their best to hide the fact that they are actually writing for a website. Most times (after 2008) they have written articles without bylines – now before you think it’s some Economist style policy understand that they are being forced to hide their identity. Also they have watched games from stands (while their fellow journalists enjoyed the comfort of the press box). They have written on games without any immediate access to stats on the internet. And they have done all this so that you, yes you, are not deprived of cricket coverage. Also it’s important to note that no other cricket board in the world has a problem with Cricinfo or other websites covering games. The BCCI’s website argument is both flawed and crass. It’s flawed because the board seems to have no problems with newspapers like the Times of India and Hindustan Times updating their respective websites during games. It’s crass because, while one can understand BCCI’s concern that tomdickandharry.com may want to cover games if they open up accreditation to websites, one would expect them to be aware of the websites that are devoted to covering cricket. Websites like Cricinfo, cricketarchive, Rediff, Yahoo, cricbuzz, holdingwilley etc have been around for long and have a devoted readership. Many cover cricket from the age-group levels and offer in-depth statistics on a player’s first-class career. I often visit cricketarchive and am amazed at their superb Player Oracle, which allows me to filter first-class stats. Also, I have personally seen Cricinfo scorers spend their whole day calling up individual scorers in the ground and update scores from 15-20 games. More importantly I have seen players use their profile pages on these sites as a CV, when they are trying to play club cricket in England or while looking for opportunities in other states. There are thousands of cricketers around India who visit these websites every day and are happy that their performances are being recorded. Tell any domestic cricketer in India that you work for Cricinfo and the first thing you’re likely to hear is a request like ‘My name is spelt wrong on your site’ or ‘My age is incorrect in my player page’ or ‘Please change my picture, many of my friends are making fun’. Even before you see cricketers in the Ranji trophy, even before you see them in the IPL, even before the selectors can spot them, websites like Cricinfo have tracked their performances. I personally know of cases where selectors have picked sides on the basis of Cricinfo’s domestic statistics. I also know of heart-warming stories of players getting good deals in the little leagues in England by sending in Cricinfo articles about them. I know a player who linked to his Cricinfo player page in his shaadi.com profile (yes, he’s married now). And I’ve also seen players and BCCI officials huddle around a computer (during the tense stages of the Ranji Trophy) to see what’s happening in other games. Peter Roebuck hit the nail on the head in a piece he wrote recently when he said, “Cricinfo has one million readers and is the second most important institution in cricket behind the BCCI.” Can you imagine the New York Times not being allowed to cover the US elections? Sambit Bal, Cricinfo’s editor, wrote a piece in April 2008 (before the first edition of the IPL) about the BCCI’s treatment of the media. It’s been close to 3 years now and we’re approaching the fourth edition of the IPL. Nothing has changed. The next time someone says ‘Indian cricket has come of age’, just stop and ponder. Anyone up for live-tweeting a Ranji match from the ground? http://sidveeblogs.wordpress.com/2010/12/24/bcci-cricinfo-and-cricket-in-india/ Another great piece by Sid on the arrogance of BCCI :hatsoff:

[sangrock]

Nice article. Its sad and the Indian media is mum too... otherwise something might have been done! (not that the Indian media is good/unbiased)

[cowboysfan]

i still cant understand why BCCI cannot update their beyond crappy website.I dont think they are hard up for cash,hell any cricket fans will do it for free.

[Nova]

This was a good read and wow BCCI is dumb. I couldn't disagree with anything in the article and all of this is news to me. BCCI Cricinfo partnership will generate more interest in domestic cricket no doubt. Amits should have been a cricketer, he could at least have used Cricinfo to promote his resume on shaadi.com. ICF didn't work for him. :(

[Sir john]

i think that there is no need for BCCI to tie up with cricinfo, BCCI can manage there site own, i hope that no tie-up betwenn cricinfo and bcci in future.

[f.b.m]

Wouldn't it actually mean more profit for BCCI if they took the 'why can't we all get along!!' approach?

[DomainK]

BCCI is full of some dumb ideas. They make money because they have monopoly on a huge market, not because they have skills.

[IKnowU]

BCCI is full of some dumb ideas. They make money because they have monopoly on a huge market' date=' because they once had [s']skillsLalit Modi who was the smartest tool in the shed for BCCI.

Fixed :--D

[Sir john]

@Dk it is good that they have monopoly, cricinfo know that they can make a good profit,if they get permission to telecast. we have other sites too for telecast,why they are not raising there voice.

[achilles]

Fixed :--D

:two_thumbs_up:

[Nova]

cricinfo know that they can make a good profit' date='if they get permission to [b']telecast. we have other sites too for telecast,why they are not raising there voice.

Telecast? Dictionary :search: The article primarily talks about allowing cricinfo to have a scorecard for Ranji matches. The author further goes on to expand on this by saying that cricinfo is already a credible and influential source of information but BCCI has not given it any official media status while other cricket boards are already allowing this. You disagree SJ?

[fineleg]

If they somehow destroy IPL unwittingly, then all this goofups by BCCI will have resulted in something good at least. While it may not be the only way, it will be one good happening - for future youngsters will have more incentive to focus on developing the patience and skill to play Test cricket.