Stop Discrimination in World Cricket

A position paper which is going to be discussed in the next meeting by the International Cricket Council's executive board proposes wholesale reform of the running of the global cricket game. The proposal will give far greater power to India, Australia and England in the decision making process and also controlling the future of cricket internationally.

This proposal has been already slammed by Cricket South Africa president Chris Nenzani as unconstitutional.

The draft plan is criticised heavily by the peak players' body, the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations.

"The FICA board and our members are extremely concerned about the future of international cricket," said FICA executive chairman Paul Marsh. “This proposal is designed to vest control of the game in the three boards of India, Australia and England. It is not in the best interests of the global game and we have real fears that it will only serve to strengthen the 'big three' countries whilst the rest are left to wither on the vine."

A redistribution of ICC finances is central to the propose. A key element of the plan is for a new four-man executive committee in which CA, the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the England and Wales Cricket Board would all be guaranteed a place with the other position selected by them each year. Those three bodies stand to receive a far greater portion of ICC revenue than they do under the present model, at the expense of other member and associate nations.

Other changes would include a two-tiered system for Test cricket – in which Australia, India and England would be exempt from relegation – and removal of control over scheduling from the ICC to allow countries to essentially pick and choose who they play.

This proposal will have a serious effect on the developing cricket nations like Banagladesh. This small country with a big population has taken cricket as its No. 1 game wholeheartedly and is working hard with sincere effort to improve its quality and skill in cricket day by day, month by month and year by year. The cricket world has witnessed the progress of this emerging cricketing nation recently in the Asia Cup and in recent tours of West Indies and New Zealand. The game of cricket has already improved the quality of life and economic conditions of the countries thousands and thousands of cricketers even from the remote rural areas which are traditionally undeveloped. The game has also assisted to improve the sporting skills of the country's huge female population. In this context, Banagladesh needs full support from the international cricket community to strengthen its position not only in the sports arena but also in its socio-economic-environmental improvements. The current ICC proposal is definitely not going to help in this respect. The ultimate skill of cricket lies in the Test Cricket, not in ODI or T20, and Banagladesh needs to play regular test crickets to improve its quality in this part of the game.

In this context, we strongly oppose the current ICC proposal to reform the world cricket, and consider that it would act against the global development harmony in the new millennium where any form of discrimination is considered seriously harmful.