Loading ...
equatorFew people hate the BCCi more than I do.
As if I didn’t hate them enough before, reading Akash Chopra’s book made my anger all the more fresh. First class cricketers treated like shit from the world’s richest cricket organisation.
But, credit where credit is due.
They have proposed a mini mini test championship.
Sure on some levels a two test series is a token, but at least it is there.
The South African Cricket Board didn’t even offer a token, and this is the team that seems indifferent to playing anyone regularly but Australia and Bangladesh (follow that logic) in test series. Of recent times the ICC seems stacked with South African administracrats, but if they can’t get their own team to play everyone, surely they are not qualified to run my toilet.
There is a chance that the BCCi were inspired by the noise the South African media was making, but it doesn’t matter where ideas come from as long as the test series happens.
The BCCi aren’t doing this for charity, they are doing this to keep their ranking as number 1 in the world, if they win. Smart move.
Even they can see that 7 match one day series, while getting a few dollars more in revenue through the door, can’t really match the fact that if they beat South Africa at home they will be number 1 in the charts for a lot longer.
Personally I don’t care if it is for selfish reasons, a 7 match one day series of dulldom has been cancelled and a mini mini test championship has been added.
This season could be the best time to play South Africa as well, by the time they have got to India they might have even lost to England, in my eyes they are looking alot more shaky than only 12 months ago.
Well done, BCCi.
Talking of the BCCi, you should buy my book.
Righto! Finally BCCI making the right nosies. I’ve heard that even the Oz tour (of India for another joke of 7 odis) towards the end of 2010 can get converted to a few tests and change of odis. Hope that happens! I am waiting to see Doggy Bollinger’s reaction to continuously bowling for a whole day and getting whacked all over by all… Lets see how obnoxious he is then.
Akash Chopra is a whinging bastard who thought more to talk up his 190 odd versus Sui Gas in the Md Nissar Trophy than the fact that Delhi became the first Indian team to relinquish the trophy!
The man whinged about not getting enough Kookaburra balls for practise and play in the first year they were introduced in the Indian domestic setup ( a supply and demand situation that was rectified by year 3 but you wont find him mentioning that!).
And so on and so forth…
And if he reinforces your “hate” for the BCCI, more power to you!
Cheers,
H, actually it wasn’t his treatment of himself that had anything to do with it, it was the treatment of the players who hadn’t played test cricket that bothered me.
UJ,
Then I suppose he must have emphasized that the Ranji teams are the responsibility of the parent(state/city) associations and not the BCCI.
And for what its worth, in one of his latest columns on CI< he lamented the "attitude" of the juniors who had the temerity to ask for better accommodations than the ones provided by the DDCA.
So much for his standing up for players who havent played Test Cricket!
Cheers,
i guess there are more fingers pointing at BCCI than at Akash Chopra. The board is rich, but are there any top quality stadiums with world class facilities ? and the players are treated as cows. Well, some ppl are content in just making hay when the sun shines..
Mock Wah´s last blog ..B.B.O.T.D. – THE LESSER KNOWNS
“The board is rich, but are there any top quality stadiums with world class facilities ?” – Mohali and Nagpur. And Uppal and Jamshedpur are not too shabby either. Nor is the DY Patil at Nerul.
And for the record, India has 45 venues that have hosted international cricket. Think about it for a minute – 45 different grounds on which international cricket has been played.
“and the players are treated as cows. ” – which is why Ranji players get paid 37,000 per match, Ranji Champions stand to make 1 crore in prize money and there is a pension scheme in place for all ex test cricketers!
As regards finger pointing, does it take a valid reason to point fingers? As a genius commented on Harsha Bhogle’s article on Cricinfo ( and I quote)
“What makes it difficult to tour India is not the SG balls, not the conditions/pitches favorable to India, nor Dhoni winning 90% of coin tosses. What smaller test nations like Sri Lanka and West Indies strugle most is with the umpiring. Umpires are worried that if they do not support the BCCI’s of the world, then they will not get to umpire in major tournaments and tours (ie: loose their job). URDS for example, will protect smaller countries from umpires who support the larger countries (ie: BCCI which petty much controls ICC with their revenue streams)”
Cheers,
Better than nothing. I hope it is spinning wickets not flat wickets. They may do flat wickets to make sachin score century. Hope SA bowlers break sachin leg. I do not like that run accumulator.
H, He did. But where does the money come from? Which is the same in all countries, states don’t make money on their own, the boards do. There is no money in first class cricket anywhere outside of England, and even then the ECB still gives them money. If first class players in New Zealand were not treated well across the majority of the country, my anger would not be at the domestic administration, it would be at the overall structure and those who oversee professional cricket in that country. If Akash said that about the junior players, then I don’t agree with what he said, but that doesn’t change the situation that first class cricketers are not treated well enough in India. You know for me the players come first, the same here as the ICL dispute, the Ryan McClaren and Shaun Tait incidents, and the Windies player strike. I don’t believe the Australian, West Indian, or Indian boards put their players first. Hence the hate.
Oh and by the way, that quote is great, it completely overlooks the fact that there are no Indians on the umpiring panel and blames the BCCi from strong arming all the world’s umpires. It would have been better if he took it further though and said that all umpires in India had buzzers strapped on them and Lalit presses the button when he wants a decision given out, and presses it twice for not out.
UJ,
“but that doesn’t change the situation that first class cricketers are not treated well enough in India.” and this is based on what exactly?
Okay , so lets talk money.. Wasnt it not that long ago that Victoria ( or was it South Australia) all up in arms that the state association was investing its money recruiting overseas players for the KFC T20 bash instead of pumping that money into grassroot cricket. Didnt see you take a call on that!
Since the Boards make the money, they must dictate how the money is spent – and what Board do you see do that? So if the DDCA, in its infinite wisdom, decides that its team travel second class sleeper from Delhi to Chennai for a Ranji game, thats the BCCI’s fault? I mean, really?
“it completely overlooks the fact that there are no Indians on the umpiring panel and blames the BCCi from strong arming all the world’s umpires”
Droll UJ, I would have thought you would present a better argument than that. If you seriously suggest the umpiring panel is the be all and end all of the Board’s ambition, then the Board is not very ambitious.
I mean, the umpiring panel consists of Mark Benson, Daryl Harper, Rudi Koetzen, Billy Bowden, Asoka De Silva, Asad Rauf, Ian Gould and Billy Doctrove. And Simon Taufel, Steve Davis and Aleem Dar. Hardly the club to hanker after!
As regards strong arming all the world umpires, there is a captain’s checklist in which they rate the umpires at the end of every game and every series. Having the checklist and the captain’s reviews havent done much by way of changing the cozy club that is the Elite Umpire’s panel.
And when, despite multiple Indian captains expressing their total lack of faith in a particular umpire, the ICC, in its infinite wisdom, chooses to impose the same umpire on the Indians time and time again, if the BCCI taking a stand is construed as “strong arm tactics”, hurrah for strong arm tactics!
Cheers,
H, I am agreeing with you on that comment. I am saying that if the BCCi really controlled umpires they’d have some, wouldn’t they?
and, for the record, the fact that the very same umpire who the BCCI “strong armed” presided over the fiasco that was the World CUp 2007 finals and continued to hold his position in the ICC “Elite Umpires Panel” tell you all you need to know about the said umpire and the said panel!
Cheers,
UJ,
Not angry, just that I expect more from you. And while you can hate the BCCI all you want, I expect the argument to be more considered and more nuanced.
Maybe its just me, being demanding and all, but thats where I am coming from on this
Cheers,
i completely disagree on BCCI strong arming Umpires. It is really laughable. Indian public is fair minded when it comes to cricket. They do not like to cheat or get cheated. if some team beat them fair and square , they lick the wounds and not complain.
Bucknor is worst umpire ever , he had brain clot in favor of aussies , SA and england. Aussies like him because he was always gave out when ever ponting appealed and screamed.
Umpires are human , they make mistakes. Only thing is it should not be a pattern against any country. They have to be consistent with their umpiring.
Indians do not have good umpires because they are not good probably , may be eye sight or stamina lacking in standing all day?. Indian umpires are not athletes , you still need healthy body stand all day in sunlight. May eating dal may not help indians as they may fart more and mess up bowlers action..hahha. Anyone see any umpire farted when bowler about to bowl? I need to see that …
Indians are obsessed with fair justice when it comes to cricket matches but not on their social structure.
I do not think BCCI is strong arming any umpires even if they give unfavorable decision here and there as long as it is a pattern against India.
Bcci do not care about umpires go against opposition…umpires gave two bad decision to dilshan last test and no pin needle drop sound from indian camp on that.
Srilankan can’t complaint because BCCI is the one giving them money by playing against them . So..
BCCI and India loves taufel. Because he was fair. i think umpires behave badly australia than any other country. May be they are scared of aussie media outlet who strong arm umpires.
Alex, I think everyone disagrees with it Alex, because it is a stupid idea.
Pardon, Bucknor had a couple of bad series and suddenly hes a bad umpire? Ignoring the fact that he had umpired 7 years before 2007 WC final which were generally uneventful. Yes probably he should have retired a bit earler but are you going to seriously claim that in a ten year career in which he officiated in 128 test matches, 181 ODI’s and 5 WC finals, was really the worst Umpire in the world.
Homer on the subject of the 2007 world cup final and his retainment of elite panel status, he was suspended from the original 20/20 wc as punishment but kept on due to work over the previous 8 years. If your implying that the retainment of a man who for the previous 8 years had been internationally acclaimed as one of the best umpires on the planet and had the stats to back it up are representative of a ‘elite panel’ i would have to agree with you.
Narkins,
Bucknor may have been God’s gift to mankind and who am I to say otherwise, but it is on record that he had been rated poorly by Indian captains well before Sydney happened.
And even after Sydney happened, the ICC was insistent on playing him at Perth. That is when the BCCI “strong arming” happened.
Indians are all too familiar with “bucknored” as a means of dismissal.
I agree that Bucknors stellar career should not be obscured by his dealings with India, but, by the same token, should his stellar career obscure the fact that he was dismal when officiating in matches involving India?
And since he remained on the “Elite Panel” even after the BCCI “strong arming”, I for one am glad India does not have anyone on the said panel.
Cheers,
I dont think the BCCI armtwists umpires. Firstly I think the Aussie and English umpires would not be armtwisted and speak out against BCCI. Also if BCCI wanted to push umpires, they would introduce Indian umpires in the elite panel – but there are none and no one is close to getting there.
Regarding Bucknor – earlier he was definitely a good umpire – but lets face it – last 4 to 5 years he was terrible. This is nothing to do with the Sydney test. He was really really really bad way before the Sydney test against all countries.
Bucknor was always bad. It was so apparent in Sydney and no one with sane mind ask for Bucknor again in perth. That show who was controlling ICC and how pathetic ICC decision makers was.
Indians has chip on the shoulder when they see white people and they think every thing sa, aus,eng does has an hidden agenda. Also aus,sa and eng always look down india.
India has its own castism (worse than racism as racism is apparent – easily visible ) problem and also india has this fair skin obsession. Idiotic country. Indians like to be independent and free and that is why it was divided into 500 kingdom…it will be again that many small states…i like india to divided and work like european union model with indian union / rupee currency.
Darrell hair was also bad. But he is bad because his brain is fked some other reason. he was thinking he is the emperor and law. Old rules do not apply. Before there was no technology so we depended on umpires to give best possible decision on his own. Now with all the technology help umpire work is less , we want him to concentrate on smaller job and be fair and correct and use technology to their advantage and give as many correct decision. I propose pocket video player with different angle of shot in cycle if team applead for referral and abolish third umpire. If some one going to over ride it has to be the umpire who made the first decision.
Each umpire has one pocket video player so one do not work , other will work. Also we can have advanced 3D sun glass that plays the video clips in the , Umpire wear them when they appeal. So umpire see it in big screen as it will be close to the eye. So they will carry pocket video player as back up if the 3d sunglass gets damaged.
All i want to know any umpires farted on Live telecast and recorded? Or any commentators farted on live commentary…
here is some fart preacher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJML0tOqYTY
Re Uncle Tom Bucknor, here’s a most balanced article by Anand Patwardhan, written during the Sydney showdown.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTAlternative/message/449
It looks like the only person the BCCI listens to is Tendulkar. They stood up for the cricketers in Sydney because of Tendulkar’s insistence, and now they are willing to convert One-Dayers into Tests (Alchemy lives!) because he wants more Tests.
2 v/s SA and then 2 v/s the Aussies, not bad. I was almost resigned to watching the Tests against B’desh, not knowing when the next fix was coming …
UJ,
“Of recent times the ICC seems stacked with South African administracrats, but if they can’t get their own team to play everyone, surely they are not qualified to run my toilet”
.Who is qualified to run the ICC then? We all saw what happened with administrators of other nationalities handling the ICC.. Given the history of Indian cricket and the BCCI’s track record of dealings with the players, Akash Chopra has lived in the golden era.
cheers
namya´s last blog ..BCCI bats for Tests or does it?
Namya, I don’t see many golden candidates from the individual boards around the world. I agree that Chopra has lived in the golden era, but still along way to go.
UJ,
That was my point.. almost all administrators from national boards have been awful so no point in targetting only one set.
cheers
namya´s last blog ..BCCI bats for Tests or does it?
Namya, I didn’t even target one in this post, I targeted two. And over the years I’ve targeted pretty much every board. I may be a cunt, but I’m an equal opportunity cunt.
i don’t think strong-arming umpires is as much of a problem as strong-mouthing. it has always amazed me that punter has never been suspended (even if we put aside his game delaying tactics) for mouthing off. sorry to open that old canary but if he was asian….
Re – Sunny
Ponting’s behaviour in Adelaide was beyond disgraceful. We have seen Ganguly get suspended for lesser transgressions.
Regarding BCCI strongarming umpires, I guess they give two hoots. BCCI is about money. If umpires had been making millions for their countries, they might have been interested.
Regarding Amit Chopra. Homer, before the setup of ICL, have a look at the ranji player’s salaries. Amit Chopra has written a really good book which holds no punches risking the wrath of BCCI. And we all know he was unfairly dropped after following instructions and doing well. So who can blame him if he holds a grudge. Which btw was not at all apparent from his book. He just wrote it as he saw it.
Dhananjay Mhatre´s last blog ..Dhaanu: @krishashok Your best version of “Hitler screams”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnRwsFf8Pv4&cc_load_policy=1
Homer – u must be kidding calling Mohali, Nagpur world class, D Y Patil has not been completed yet, they wanna host games, cos money making is more important for the Boards (local and BCCI). When i mean world class i don’t ask u to name the best stadiums in India, I simply compare them to the best world over, u know like MCG, Lord’s, Bull Ring and the likes. So, do u really require 45 venues?
And players’ treatment doesn’t involve just the money they are paid for a game or a day’s play. They are not Prostitutes paid for their job.
Mock Wah´s last blog ..B.B.O.T.D. – THE LESSER KNOWNS