Modi and the IPL - where to start?

It really is tricky to work it all out amongst the various allegations being made in the media. My summary would be:

- such huge success was always going to come under immense scrutiny so if Modi wasn't 100% above board with his financial dealings then he's not only greedy but stupid
- it was inevitable given the regular infighting and politics in Indian cricket that others would want part of the action
- it's not going to mean the immediate end to the IPL - there's too much money at stake and no other country has the interest and volume of people to challenge India in holding a similar tournament - but it could mean that it changes shape/approach
- if the tournament can be cut down as a result then some good will have come out of it - 6 weeks is a massive and unnecessarily long distraction from the most important cricket action of all - internationals!
- I wonder what Kapil Dev (who championed the ICL but was outmanoeuvred by Modi and the BCCI) makes of all this?
- If Modi is corrupt, Indian's have nothing to be ashamed of (many Indian observers appear embarrassed by what Modi is rumoured to have done) - corruption exists in all countries and everyone isn't to blame for individual weaknesses.

ECB get the rough end of the stick

I can't quite work out how the ECB are so involved in the legal dramas between the ICL and the BCCI. The BCCI may have a case to answer for restraint of trade, but the ECB simply reacted to a set of events in the most commercially attractive way they could. As I've said before on Cricket Burble, I'm no legal expert(!), but surely there's no case for the ECB to answer until after the BCCI have been proved guilty, if that were even to happen?

Indian players can't play against ICL players?

This seems crazy from the BCCI - they are now pulling out players from matches in which the opposition field an ICL player - Sachin Tendulkar being pulled out of a match in NZ at short notice.

The BCCI need to put money to one side and sort out their issues with the ICL if they are to be true to their claim of wanting to advance the game of cricket both in India and globally. It's clear that the ICC haven't got the power to force the BCCI to make that decision, so it's up to them to make that decision for themselves. I'm not holding my breath!

Recognise the ICL

It's interesting to see the response to Mohammed Yousuf signing up to the ICL. From the comments at the bottom of this page about Yousuf, it seems the vast majority of people want the ICL to be recognised by the ICC.

When I was in India the ICL was on and it looked like an interesting league. I've not watched the IPL and that, I assume, is a slightly higher standard given the players involved, but the ICL is still a very good quality of cricket. It's difficult to make a judgement based on a few TV matches, but to my untrained eye it looked like it was at least as good as County cricket.

The BCCI recognise that there's money to be made here and not surprisingly they don't want a rival league in their backyard - all be it one that they have proved is helpful to them in that they can learn what works and make better use of the learnings given their massive spending power. I would argue that the BCCI should be a little more forward thinking and consider how the ICL could be useful to them. And that the ICC should recognise the ICL asap so that member countries can stop the farcical banning of players that only goes to weaken world cricket.

The BCCI needs to show that it's capable of playing a lead role in world cricket, rather than playing the role of an angry teenager. They could start by accepting Gambhir's one-match ban. The rest of the world are ready to support India as the lead-player if only the BCCI can get their act together and realise they are subordinate to the ICC, not above them.

India

I seemed to time my trip to Goa quite nicely....not just because a friend got married, but also because India beat the Aussies in the 2nd Test, the ICL was in full swing, and Sachin Tendulkar took the record for most Test runs and went past 12,000.

I was pretty surprised by the reaction given what I'd known of India when I was last there around the time of the World Cup. Stoning of player's houses, burning of efiges of players and coach - it was all extreme to the point of a communal loss of any sense of reality. The thought that a country can effectively come to a halt on the basis of going out of the World Cup was a worry, and it was even more worrying to consider that the same can happen in England with football. Mass hysteria is a little alarming at times!

So the reaction to Sachin Tendulkar breaking the record was unexpectedly sensible. He was of course lauded for his achievement, his relatives were interviewed etc, but there was a sense of perspective that I wasn't expecting and was pleased to see. That sense of perspective was perhaps less in evidence when the 2nd Test went India's way - you would have thought they'd won the series already! If they don't win the series the media will look pretty silly given all the hype around one solitary win, but given the Aussies lack of firepower in the bowling department, they may well not have to consider that as an outcome. It is interesting to see the way the Aussies (or at least some of them) see it - that basically it came down to the toss of a coin. I don't think it was quite as simple as that, but I certainly don't think the Indian team or their public should get ahead of themselves!

As always in India, games of cricket were happening all over the place and I found quite a nice little ground. Yes the stumps are a little rudimentary, but I was gutted that I didn't get to play at this ground!

Another one off to the ICL...?

Another older international player looks set to join the ICL after Upul Chandana's retirement from international cricket. Who can blame them - a big pay day at the end of your career seems like a good opportunity....

Dean Jones

I don't doubt Dean Jones' dedication to Victorian cricket, but I'm not sure why he's surprised that he's been overlooked for a spot on the Victorian board following his involvement with the ICL. I think the fact that they are supporting him at all is a show of faith given his role in the ICL.

We shall see how things turn out but I don't necessarily agree that the ICL could be good for cricket as Adam Gilchrist has said. Perhaps he recognises that as an international cricketer coming to the end of his career, the ICL could be a nice little earner.

ICL controversy in Pakistan

It seems that the ICL is going to make it's mark on Pakistani cricket, having managed to secure the signature of Imran Farhat, Adbul Razzaq and Mohammed Yousuf along with Inzamam-ul-Haq. That's four of their squad gone immediately, given that the PCB have already made their stance clear - no player who goes to the ICL can play for Pakistan. Yousuf is a huge loss for them - all the others, it can be argued have limited value having failed to live up to their hype in the past or in Inzamam's case, due to his advanced age, but Yousuf has been Pakistan's best player over recent times, and at 32 he still has several years in him.

I have deliberately not commented on the ICL until now because it sits outside of the international cricket calendar and Dean Jones had previously commented that the ICL would not target current Test players. In this case though, the ICL clearly have lured current test players with money, so Pakistan will be annoyed to lose the services of all four, especially considering the youth of 25 year-old Farhat and 27 year-old Razzaq, although Razzaq got in before the ICL announcement by retiring from international cricket. The PCB need to stand strong if they have the long-term interests of the game in Pakistan and the rest of the world at heart and not give them contracts or pick them again.