India, Australia and England in attempt to take control of cricket

[bulbul]

World cricket's custodians are to consider a revolutionary proposal to bring relegation and promotion to Test matches as a partial sop to the imminent death of the World Test Championship (WTC). The ICC executive board is expected to consider the proposal at the next round of meetings later this month, the same gathering expected to end any hopes for the WTC due to the reluctance of broadcasters and the lack of certainty around the format of an event that was postponed from its original 2013 launch date and re-launched for 2017 last October.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/709973.html

[G_B_]

so if india and pak are in the same tier and they dont play each other for political reasons. points shared? I assume the split will go 8, 8

[putrevus]

World cricket's custodians My foot Just imagine if New Zealand have to come to England and win one out of three Tests to stay in the first division or win promotion," Vaughan wrote in the Telegraph. "If there is a proper financial incentive to playing in the first division, like there is in football's Premier League, then players would be less likely to choose the IPL instead." Pommies acting as if they are interested in betterment of the test cricket which is utter nonsense, they just whine because IPL is screwing them and their broadcast partners and they are thinking ways to decrease the power of BCCI. They don't mention that ECB made a deal with devil (sky sports) in playing minimum of 6 to 7 tests in on summer. why two countries have to visit England in one in late summer which is main tier and second one catered just for TV which is early in summer. what these rascals want us to believe is they are protecting test cricket but in essence it is all about filling their coffers. test championship is no go because their team stinks and also it will be interesting to see these what these morons will do if Aussies end up first tier and they end up in second tier which is more likely, then there will be no more Ashes??

[Zap_Brannigan]

Hypocrites!Hypocrites everywhere!! All the talk about protecting test cricket by these test custodians, all comes down to money. Yet they have the gall to talk about IPL's money. I really hope Sky doesnt get the rights to IPL ever even though it would be funny to see all the english commentators become IPL converts.

[Zap_Brannigan]

so if india and pak are in the same tier and they dont play each other for political reasons. points shared? I assume the split will go 8, 8

They would likely use the existing format. There is no need for equal number of games against each other. This is not a league. Besides, does anyone really think that the english and the aussie cricket board will ever allow ashes to be reduced to a 3 test series? Its their biggest money spinner.

[bsriharsha]

If at all there's a two tier system , One Tier should comprise of the regular test nations (apart from zimbabwe and bangladesh) and the Other Tier should be of the second rate teams....(inlcuding zim,ban,afg,ireland) As it is , there's a "tiered" system in place now with the top 4 teams content to be playing cricket among themselves(Ind/Sa/Aus/Eng) and the others getting the scrapings.

[Zap_Brannigan]

If at all there's a two tier system , One Tier should comprise of the regular test nations (apart from zimbabwe and bangladesh) and the Other Tier should be of the second rate teams....(inlcuding zim,ban,afg,ireland) As it is , there's a "tiered" system in place now with the top 4 teams content to be playing cricket among themselves(Ind/Sa/Aus/Eng) and the others getting the scrapings.

We already have a 2 tier system except with BD in 1st tier and all the non test playing nations in the 2nd tier. A tier 1 with 8 teams is not going to make test series important in the grander scheme which was what ICC was trying to do with test championship. Since BD is so bad, even WI and NZ wont be bothered about being regulated and have no incentive to play and win more. Now if it is a 4/5 team tier 1, that would spice things up. No one forcing Pak/SL/WI/NZ and BD to play less. They can have a long series with each other. But they all want big series against the top 4 and even in that they scrap test to fit more ODIs. So its not a surprise that even the top 4 wants to play more against the top 4. BD doesnt want to play ireland, yet it wants to play against India. I am sure there is hypocrisy somewhere there.

[special K]

India would be 2nd tier with Bangladesh and Windies. BCCI wouldn't be happy missing out on test series with the elite test nations

[Zap_Brannigan]

India would be 2nd tier with Bangladesh and Windies. BCCI wouldn't be happy missing out on test series with the elite test nations

Really? India would be in the 2nd tier??!! So if the 2nd ranked team is in the 2nd tier, the 1st tier just has SA!!:hatsoff:

[SLICKR392]

Really? India would be in the 2nd tier??!! So if the 2nd ranked team is in the 2nd tier, the 1st tier just has SA!!:hatsoff:

Ignore the troll.

[Zero_Unit]

Just imagine if we ever drop from 1st tier to 2nd tire, wouldn't that be a disaster for ICC's plan? After all, BCCI is most certainly the backbone of ICC. These morons needs to think of their plan a bit more before trying to implement it. And for crying out loud, who in the world has the time to watch test cricket these days? Half the stadiums are empty to begin with. With Sachin gone, that emptiness would just increase. Test cricket is dying.

[Scarves]

Won't happen because no way that India will be regulated. BCCI will chuck a fit and ICC will back down. It will fail.

[StriKe]

ICC plans to delink from FTP, make it bilateral

The nature of the ICC's Future Tours Programme (FTP), the schedule for top-level international cricket, is set to undergo a sweeping change if proposals from a Financial & Commercial Affairs "working group position paper" are approved. The proposals seek, among other things, to scrap the central FTP agreements between the ICC and its members and replace it with bilateral agreements between member nations. The draft of the proposals, made available to member nations following a special Board meeting on January 9 in Dubai, seeks to detach the ICC from being involved in scheduling series between member nations. The alternative being recommended is a "series of contractually binding bi-lateral agreements with other full members they wish to play against." The proposal also specifies that "it is up to the full member to enter into as many or as few FTP agreements as they wish." It states that no member should be "forced to play" against another unless bilaterally agreed, or forced to host uneconomic tours with the "content and timing" of all tours being agreed to bilaterally. It could, if and when it is approved, lead to a radical change in how, and how often, the ICC's Full Members engage with each other. The reason the FTP is to be removed from central ICC control, according to the position paper, is because "the draft FTP, as it stands, contains a large number of unviable tours." The document, made available to ESPNcricinfo, recommends the restructuring of the ICC's administration and finances but also centralizes power in the hands of three member boards: Cricket Australia, the BCCI and the ECB. The three boards occupy key positions in the Finance and Commercial Affairs committee and, under the new ICC funding model being proposed, stand to be the top three beneficiaries of revenue distribution. Other than distribution of revenues from ICC events, the new financial model also proposes the creation and relocation of a new commercial arm of the ICC - called the ICC Business Co (IBC) - with the phasing out of its existing arm, the IDI. The draft states that the IBC is to be established "immediately" so that it can take charge of the selling a new cycle of ICC media and sponsorship rights for 2015-2023. The document says the incorporation of the IBC has to be completed before the ICC's April Board meeting to ensure "timely launch" of the 2015-2023 media rights tender. The timing of the new ICC financial model coincides with that of the reworked FTP. The draft says the "initial FTP agreements will be entered into at the same time as the introduction of the new ICC financial model in 2014." Cricket Australia, the ECB and the BCCI it is stated, are "committing" to enter into FTP agreements from 2015 to 2023. The FTP agreements will be legally binding between members barring a few conditions: force majeure events (natural disasters), material breach by the other party, if the touring team's broadcaster are in legal dispute with the home board's primary media rights holder and no changes in playing conditions unless agreed.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/710707.html

[StriKe]

Freddie Wilde ‏@fwildecricket 29m Cricket. #ICC pic.twitter.com/1BtQxBSwvi Nikhil CCN™ ‏@CricCrazyNIKS 32m BCCI really acting like the Voldemort now. Richard Boock ‏@richardboock 36m icc proposes running cricket like indian society - the rich and the beggars. Alternative Cricket ‏@AltCricket 34m This is like the banking crisis all over again: the rich get richer, the poor get laughed at from ivory towers. #FTP #ICC Peter Miller ‏@TheCricketGeek 36m The BCCI were demanding a bigger slice of ICC events pie. Rather than challenging it, it seems ECB and CA have said "us too" Alternative Cricket ‏@AltCricket 36m Horrible news for cricket if we're seeing power shift further towards The Big Three (BCCI, CA & ECB). Iain O'Brien ‏@iainobrien 9m the @icc have just unfollowed me… Pretty much sums up my thoughts on them and their new decisions... Pavilion Opinions ‏@pavilionopinion 18m My main concern at the FTP news is that the number of India vs Sri Lanka ODIs per year may fall below 36. Pavilion Opinions ‏@pavilionopinion Comforting to know cricket's finances will now be in the hands of a man duped by a fraudster and the father-in-law of an alleged match-fixer Nikhil CCN™ ‏@CricCrazyNIKS ICC being kicked from Behind is BCCI! Peter Miller ‏@TheCricketGeek 48m Proposals in that paper are basically anti-Woolf report. Further putting ICC in hands of powerful so they can make more $$$$$$ N.Srinivasan ‏@AntiSrinivasan 48m From now on we ensure there will be nothing done for the development of Cricket. #BCCI #Cricket

[Crookbond]

What a load of non sense?

[Muloghonto]

Good About feckin time.

[StriKe]

India, Australia and England in attempt to take control of cricket

Radical changes to the way cricket is governed – and by whom – are in the offing, according to a working document drafted by the three richest member nations of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The Finance & Commercial Affairs (F&CA) Commercial Rights Working Group position paper, a copy of which has been seen by The National, has been drafted by the boards of Australia, England and India. The 21-page document, presented to all full members of the ICC at a little-publicised January 9 meeting in Dubai, is set to return cricket to the days when Australia and England ruled supreme over administration; only, in an ironic twist, India – which fought so hard to abolish that old system – is now a part and perhaps leader of this emerging oligarchy. The intended restructure of the way cricket is governed revolves around plans to set up an Executive Committee which will be made up of Cricket Australia (CA), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as permanent members. One other non-permanent member will be nominated on an annual basis by the three boards. The Executive Committee, the paper proposes, will supersede the current executive board of the ICC, which is made up of all full members and makes decisions; effectively, it narrows all major decision-making in the game into the hands of these three boards. This body will also have the power to nominate the head of the influential F&CA committee and also the ICC chairman. The paper also calls for the current Future Tours Programme (FTP), the international calendar of the game, to be scrapped and taken out of the control of the ICC. “No member should be forced to play another member except as bilaterally agreed,” the draft reads. “No member should be forced to host uneconomic tours. … There should be no ICC FTP regulation or central FTP agreement between ICC and full members.” The current FTP – though its enforcement is erratic – sets basic parameters of bilateral engagement over an eight-year period: each full member must host and visit every other full member at least once in that period. In the newly proposed FTP, set over a minimum four-year period, “CA and ECB will offer a guarantee of three Tests and five limited-overs matches per cycle to the top 8 members.” The requirement of the BCCI is not currently available. This would seem to solidify growing fears in recent months that the three boards are happy to play each other as often as possible as their most lucrative assignments, without the compulsion of playing tours against lesser full members. The final major overhaul the report calls for, and one that has been whispered about for some time now but is only confirmed by this document, is of the current financial distribution system of the international game. Currently, a vast portion of the money from all ICC events is divided equally among all full members and the remaining given to associate and affiliate nations. In this new plan, subtitled “ICC distribution ranking system – Meritocracy not just Membership”, the boards that earn the most revenues for an ICC event, will be entitled to the greatest returns. “In the past, there has been only an equal payment to all full members” from ICC events, the paper states. “Under this new model – the Contribution Costs – a small proportion of gross income – recognise the role of each member in contributing to generating the ICC revenues required to sustain the game.” A number of other recommendations are made in the report, the most eye-catching of which is the idea of scrapping a proposed World Test Championship (launched with much fanfare by the ICC only a few months ago in Abu Dhabi) and replacing it with a system of promotion and relegation. This, theoretically, allows associates such as Afghanistan and Ireland to be promoted and play Test cricket, at the expense of the bottom two of the 10 full members. But in a sign of how concentrated power will be, the paper makes Australia, England and India exempt from relegation. The report has, it is believed, been in the works for the past six months though no mention of it has been made to the ICC or any other member board. The first time the rest of cricket administration saw this was during the January 9 meeting; that meeting would not have been made public at all had it not been for an inadvertent public reference to it in a media release by the Pakistan Cricket Board on a separate matter. According to officials present at the meeting, the draft was presented as a fait accompli. eMmbers outside this trio were left in no doubt that the report, presented by the BCCI head N Srinivasan, is the final position of the three boards: take it or lump it, was the message. Discussions and reactions emerged at the meeting and, unsurprisingly, boards outside this troika, expressed great unease and opposition to the proposed changes: “If we don’t stop this then it will become a huge problem,” one official said, describing to The National the general reaction. The role of the ICC stands to become further diminished and its headquarters possibly moved to another country. A spokesman for the group declined to make an official comment. But officials familiar with the meeting stress that it is a draft, currently, a working plan and could be changed. Others suggest that may not be the case. One full member official says that the BCCI has essentially pegged its participation in future ICC events on this financial redistribution plan going forward – a reason why the ICC did not begin the process of tendering its commercial rights last year. The report will be discussed further at the official ICC board meeting on January 27 and 28 in Dubai. It is expected to be a particularly messy meeting and talk of legal options being explored by the boards outside this trio is not fanciful. An official not from one of the three boards evoked the prospects of a return to the old “veto” system of administration on which cricket was once run, until the subcontinent’s growing financial strength overturned the system in the mid-1990s. “These are very radical changes,” the official said. “The view of many boards is how on Earth can we come back to this system? In ICC when veto was abolished, it brought in a notion of equality. This negates that completely. Using the front of economy, they are attaching the right of a country to rule the cricket world by using economic strength as a plank.” He also questioned how any new system can be based on meritocracy when the three boards have exempted their own teams from relegation. “Permanent cycles don’t exist. India was not in the position it is now in 10 years ago and 10 years from now, Australia might not be in the position they are in now. “How can three countries be exempt from relegation? How can that be? They say at one end they are following meritocracy, but you base it on their financial strength who is promoted or relegated.” There is some urgency on the paper, as well. The three boards want to have either all or some parts of this draft ratified by April this year, when the ICC will begin the process of tendering its eight-year commercial rights agreement; the next batch of rights are from 2015-2023. It is possible that the decision goes to a vote as early as the meeting at the end of January. For the report to be accepted, with such vast structural changes, it would have to secure at least seven out of 10 full-member votes.

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/india-australia-and-england-in-attempt-to-take-control-of-cricket#ixzz2qgT7FhtP

[Malcolm Merlyn]

India, Australia and England in attempt to take control of cricket India, Australia and England in attempt to take control of cricket

Radical changes to the way cricket is governed – and by whom – are in the offing, according to a working document drafted by the three richest member nations of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The Finance & Commercial Affairs (F&CA) Commercial Rights Working Group position paper, a copy of which has been seen by The National, has been drafted by the boards of Australia, England and India. The 21-page document, presented to all full members of the ICC at a little-publicised January 9 meeting in Dubai, is set to return cricket to the days when Australia and England ruled supreme over administration; only, in an ironic twist, India – which fought so hard to abolish that old system – is now a part and perhaps leader of this emerging oligarchy. The intended restructure of the way cricket is governed revolves around plans to set up an Executive Committee which will be made up of Cricket Australia (CA), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as permanent members. One other non-permanent member will be nominated on an annual basis by the three boards. The Executive Committee, the paper proposes, will supersede the current executive board of the ICC, which is made up of all full members and makes decisions; effectively, it narrows all major decision-making in the game into the hands of these three boards. This body will also have the power to nominate the head of the influential F&CA committee and also the ICC chairman. The paper also calls for the current Future Tours Programme (FTP), the international calendar of the game, to be scrapped and taken out of the control of the ICC. “No member should be forced to play another member except as bilaterally agreed,” the draft reads. “No member should be forced to host uneconomic tours. … There should be no ICC FTP regulation or central FTP agreement between ICC and full members.” The current FTP – though its enforcement is erratic – sets basic parameters of bilateral engagement over an eight-year period: each full member must host and visit every other full member at least once in that period. In the newly proposed FTP, set over a minimum four-year period, “CA and ECB will offer a guarantee of three Tests and five limited-overs matches per cycle to the top 8 members.” The requirement of the BCCI is not currently available. This would seem to solidify growing fears in recent months that the three boards are happy to play each other as often as possible as their most lucrative assignments, without the compulsion of playing tours against lesser full members. The final major overhaul the report calls for, and one that has been whispered about for some time now but is only confirmed by this document, is of the current financial distribution system of the international game. Currently, a vast portion of the money from all ICC events is divided equally among all full members and the remaining given to associate and affiliate nations. In this new plan, subtitled “ICC distribution ranking system – Meritocracy not just Membership”, the boards that earn the most revenues for an ICC event, will be entitled to the greatest returns. “In the past, there has been only an equal payment to all full members” from ICC events, the paper states. “Under this new model – the Contribution Costs – a small proportion of gross income – recognise the role of each member in contributing to generating the ICC revenues required to sustain the game.” A number of other recommendations are made in the report, the most eye-catching of which is the idea of scrapping a proposed World Test Championship (launched with much fanfare by the ICC only a few months ago in Abu Dhabi) and replacing it with a system of promotion and relegation. This, theoretically, allows associates such as Afghanistan and Ireland to be promoted and play Test cricket, at the expense of the bottom two of the 10 full members. But in a sign of how concentrated power will be, the paper makes Australia, England and India exempt from relegation. The report has, it is believed, been in the works for the past six months though no mention of it has been made to the ICC or any other member board. The first time the rest of cricket administration saw this was during the January 9 meeting; that meeting would not have been made public at all had it not been for an inadvertent public reference to it in a media release by the Pakistan Cricket Board on a separate matter. According to officials present at the meeting, the draft was presented as a fait accompli. Members outside this trio were left in no doubt that the report, presented by the BCCI head N Srinivasan, is the final position of the three boards: take it or lump it, was the message. Discussions and reactions emerged at the meeting and, unsurprisingly, boards outside this troika, expressed great unease and opposition to the proposed changes: “If we don’t stop this then it will become a huge problem,” one official said, describing to The National the general reaction. The role of the ICC stands to become further diminished and its headquarters possibly moved to another country. A spokesman for the group declined to make an official comment. But officials familiar with the meeting stress that it is a draft, currently, a working plan and could be changed. Others suggest that may not be the case. One full member official says that the BCCI has essentially pegged its participation in future ICC events on this financial redistribution plan going forward – a reason why the ICC did not begin the process of tendering its commercial rights last year. The report will be discussed further at the official ICC board meeting on January 27 and 28 in Dubai. It is expected to be a particularly messy meeting and talk of legal options being explored by the boards outside this trio is not fanciful. An official not from one of the three boards evoked the prospects of a return to the old “veto” system of administration on which cricket was once run, until the subcontinent’s growing financial strength overturned the system in the mid-1990s. “These are very radical changes,” the official said. “The view of many boards is how on Earth can we come back to this system? In ICC when veto was abolished, it brought in a notion of equality. This negates that completely. Using the front of economy, they are attaching the right of a country to rule the cricket world by using economic strength as a plank.” He also questioned how any new system can be based on meritocracy when the three boards have exempted their own teams from relegation. “Permanent cycles don’t exist. India was not in the position it is now in 10 years ago and 10 years from now, Australia might not be in the position they are in now. “How can three countries be exempt from relegation? How can that be? They say at one end they are following meritocracy, but you base it on their financial strength who is promoted or relegated.” There is some urgency on the paper, as well. The three boards want to have either all or some parts of this draft ratified by April this year, when the ICC will begin the process of tendering its eight-year commercial rights agreement; the next batch of rights are from 2015-2023. It is possible that the decision goes to a vote as early as the meeting at the end of January. For the report to be accepted, with such vast structural changes, it would have to secure at least seven out of 10 full-member votes.

[StriKe]

http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=308039 posted already

[G_B_]

quite disappointing that the BCCI has not gone alone... BCCI though need to ensure we take care of the likes of Zimbabwe. A poor board who has always voted for India.