Cricketers Lose Faith in ICC
16/05/2007 |
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The International Cricket Council is losing the support of leading players after the seven-week 2007 World Cup slumped as a spectacle.
In a post-tournament survey by the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations, or FICA, 56 percent of a 45-player sample said they had no confidence in the ICC's ability to govern the game or organize World Cups. The ICC came across as ``out of touch'' with the rest of the cricketing world, the FICA said.
``There has been a growing amount of dissatisfaction amongst a wide variety of cricket stakeholders over the past 24 months, regarding the governance of our game,'' FICA President Tim May said in an e-mailed statement.
The ICC is under pressure to find a successful format for the game's showpiece event after the ninth edition of Cricket's World Cup dragged on for seven weeks and finished in farcical circumstances after an umpiring error. Only three of the 51 matches went into the final over with both teams harboring a realistic chance of victory.
Many games were played before half-empty stadiums amid criticisms by officials including South Africa's Ali Bacher that ticket prices -- ranging from $25 to $100 -- were too high for locals, who were also angered by restrictions on bringing food, drink and musical instruments to stadiums.
In the survey, only 11 percent of players rated the event better than average, while 87 percent said it was too long. ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed has said the 47-day 2011 tournament should be shortened by 7-10 days.
Survey Criticized
ICC spokesman Brian Murgatroyd criticized the survey for basing its views on the responses of only 45 players, and for failing to quiz competitors from the six ICC associate countries taking part in the event, such as Canada and Bermuda. He challenged May to express his grievances directly to the ICC.
``If Tim May has something to say I'm sure he'll do the decent thing and talk to Malcolm Speed,'' Murgatroyd said in a phone interview.
May, a former Australia Test player, said the ICC was too reliant on committees for making big decisions. The council's Chief Executives' Committee consists of representatives from all the major cricket-playing nations.
The body is ``more likely to deliver outcomes that are decided on party lines and the self-interest of its members rather than the overall good of the game,'' May said.
(Source: Bloomberg.com)
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