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'For the first time in world cricket, there will be random testing of cricketers'

Chat transcript of Ali Bacher
Executive director of the 2003 World Cup organising committee

Dr Ali Bacher : I am delighted to be on the show and I look forward to answering your questions in the next 60 minutes.

imran : Sir, what is the vision that you bring into your job to organise the 2003 World Cup in South Africa?
Dr Ali Bacher : Firstly to organise an event that will unite all the different people of South Africa, an event that South Africa can be pretty proud of. Also, an event that will bring credit to the international cricket community.

jocob : What does this world cup mean to South africa as a nation?
Dr Ali Bacher : This is the first time that Africa and South Africa in particular will be hosting the world cup. It therefore becomes a very special event for South Africa. It is far bigger than cricket, its about empowerment particularly black empowerment. The transference of skills to black people, the mentoring of people and the spreding of ownership fo the cricket world cup. We hope to change the lives of many South Africans, for the better after the cricket world cup.

Bookie : Sir what steps have u'll taken to counter betting
Dr Ali Bacher : Lord Paul Condon is a member of our security directorate, all his regional security officers will be in South Africa before and during the world cup. mesures and structures will be put in place to ensure that what happens on th field of play is a true reflection of the players'skills and expertise for eg players individual cell phones will not be permitted to be taken to the cricket grounds during the games.

Bookie : Do u think the contract dispute will ruin the spirits of the cricketers
Dr Ali Bacher : The history of the game of cricket is riddled with confrontations between the players and the administrators. What has happened now with regards to the player contracts is nothing new. I have every confidence that when the world cup starts in South Africa, all these issues would have been resolved to the satisfaction of the players, sponsors and the administrators.

Ankush : What are your plans to prevent events like pitch invasion during crutial matches in the world cup ?
Dr Ali Bacher : We have in South Africa, a very high-powered security directorate. we have instructed them that we do not want one spectator on the field during play for the duration of the 54 matches. Steel frames with wire netting will be installed around all the playing fields to ensure that it will almost be impossible for any spectator to invade the playing area during any particular match.

**sameer** : hello sir.i want to ask u what r dprovisions made for rain interruptions during matches?
Dr Ali Bacher : As I answer this question, the executive board of the ICC are meeting in this hotel to discuss amongst other things whether there should be a reserve day for the pool matches of the world cup. From the organising point of view, we are opposed to reserve days purely for logistic reasons.

mitin : sir will the lbw decisions be taken by the tv umpires for the world cup ?
Dr Ali Bacher : The ICC are debating this particular issue, my own personal view point,that the use of the third umpire should only be extended as follows: 1) To establish wheteher a ball has pitched outside the leg stump and secondly 2) the point of contact on the pad when the batsman is playing a shot is between wicket to wicket or outside the line of the stumps.

sunnyb : Mr. Bacher, which teams do you think have the potential to lift the world cup?
Dr Ali Bacher : South African pitches generally assit the pace bowlers. Particularly with bounce it will therefore appear to me that those teams that have four good pace bowlers will stand a good chance of winning the world cup.

**sameer** : have u made new stadia fro d world cup?
Dr Ali Bacher : We are using twelve venues within South Africa, We are in the process of upgrading all twelve to make sure that every ground is of top international standard. The cost of this upgrade will be in the order of a 100 million rand. This is one of the legacies that we want to leave after the world cup.

Sachin : Hello Dr. Bacher.. i recently read about dope tests being introduced for the world cup... is it true ? IF yes then will u be able to enforce it upon all teams ?
Dr Ali Bacher : FOr the first time in world cricket, there will be random testing of cricketers during the world cup to ensure that no cricketer could be inhaling or ingesting substances or products that could enhance the performances of the cricketers.

engrr : Sir, What do you think of TV REPLAYS being used for checking NO-BALLS. It will be much easier for the Standing Umpire
Dr Ali Bacher : I think it is very difficult for an umpire within a split second to see whether a bowler has bowled a no-ball immedaitely thereafter give a view point whether batsman is out or not. I don't think TV replays can help the umpire but I wouldn't be surprised that down the years some electronic system, is implemented that will assist the umpire in performing his duties.

raveeshkavuru : what is the status of the game sin zimbzbwe during the world cup,if cancelled will it effect the world cup?
Dr Ali Bacher : The world cup was awarded to South Africa in 1993. We took a view point in South Africa that we wanted to spread criket beyond our borders into Africa. And the best way to achieve this objective is to have world cup cricket played in Zimbabwe and Kenya. We will do everything possible from our side to ensure that those eight matches take place in Zimbabwe and Kenya.

mani : hello sir, do u think that after hanse cronje south africa lack a dynamic captain like him. i think pollock is immature as a captain.
Dr Ali Bacher : Hansie Cronje was a very strong leader of men and a very good forceful motivator of his team-mates. Shaun Pollock is an outstanding cricketer and will lead more by example.

Vinay : Dr. Bacher, will the "Hawkeye" technology be used in the World Cup? Is it not better for a machine to be 95% accurate than for the umpires to be 80% accurate?
Dr Ali Bacher : The Hawk-Eye innovation is outstanding. it brings a new dimension to the television viewer, however we must be very careful that we don't take away all responsibilities from the umpires and create a system whereby umpires will merely become robots on the field of play.

NoTWO : Howz SA coping with organising the WC
Dr Ali Bacher : It is a huge event taking place in three different countries. We have worked out that there are approximately 150 different events during the cricket world cup for eg world cup cricket matches, world cup lead-up matches, development clinics, charity banquets and civic receptions notwithstanding the magnitude of the task I am confident that we have excellent resources in South Africa to put together an event that South Africa and the international cricket community can be proud of.

Mechanikhil : Dr. Bacher, Are we again going to have some kind of controversial point system in SA world cup
Dr Ali Bacher : No, I don't think so. The format will be very much like the 1999 World Cup in England whereby those teams that advance to the Super Six stage carried forward their points against teams that they defeated and who also progressed to the super six stage.

kim : Hello Doc, do you feel ICC should be shifted either to Asia or Africa where the most no of nations play cricket?
Dr Ali Bacher : There has been debate for some time whether the ICC headquarters should not move to the sub-continent because of the immense support for the game in the particular region of Asia. on the other side of the coin many people like to uphold the traditions of the game and particularly to ensure that the headquarters of the ICC remain at Lord's, the home of cricket.

**sameer** : Sir, why is d cricket world cup far less popular in d world than may b d soccer or rugby world cup or d olympics.what can be done to bring cricket on equal footage with d above?
Dr Ali Bacher : You must differentiate soccer from cricket and rugby. Soccer is a truly global sport whereas cricket and rugby is not. the cricket world cup in South Africa is the eight ICC cricket world cup and we will do everything possible to make sure that that event is a truly outstanding global sport event.

devaraj : what do you think of todays match ICC champions trophy, who is going to win this trophy.
Dr Ali Bacher : There are two very fine teams and both teams play particularly well in the sub-continent. I would probably favour, but only slightly India because of their outstanding batting line-up. Also, the Indian team contain one of the greatest batsman of all time, Sachin Tendulkar.

Sureshkumar : This is suresh from India(Chennai) :Is there is any special arrangement for Tourists(Cricket Watchers). How it was?
Dr Ali Bacher : We have an appointed tour operator. The company's name is EDUSPORT, GULLINJET TRAVEL. Kindly phone my office in Johannesburg 4463600 and they will advise you how to make contact with the company. Our internet site is www.cricketworldcup.com

ashish : Dr Bacher i am yet to get an answer on my Question of this world cup putting an impact on the black community in terms of sportsor may be u don't want to get into this discussion, this is a very important question because for them cricket may not be the first choice, and what steps have u taken so that south africa team represents them as well?
Dr Ali Bacher : The Sowetan newspaper which is the biggest daily newspaper in SA and read primarily by black South Africans recently did amrket research to establish which sports their readers were interested in. Eighteen sporting codes were identified for eg soccer, rugby, criket, athletics etc. The survey revealed outstanding support for cricket infact cricket is now regarded by their readers as the number two sport behind obviously soccer which remains the most popular sport in South Africa.

nnnnnnnnn : Mr. Backer is there chance to win the worldcup for south Africa as they are much experiance of bouncy track?But they have no luck every time they qualify for semifinal and lose due to bad luck?now this time what you think?
Dr Ali Bacher : There are two things in their favour, they are used to local conditions and secondly the whole of South Africa will rally behind their team. We have in South Africa an outstanding prospect by the name of Mfuneko Ngam. He is very fast, has a beautiful run-up to the wicket and an excellent delivery action. He played for SA two years ago against Sri Lanka in South Africa and caused a great deal of discomfort to the LAnkan batsmen. Sadly, he hasn't bowled much for the last two years because of stress fractures. As I speak to you he is fit and raring to go and provided he doen't have any further injuries this summer he could play a very important role in ensuring that South Africa become strong contenders for the coveted cup.

chagulee : Sir, do u think the controversy would last long till world cup, which has made the leading indian players to go in the eleventh hour????
Dr Ali Bacher : I would probably ask the legendary icon of South Africa Sir Nelson mandela to intervene.

Lapog : Why there is no Indian seen in the SA cricket seen?
Dr Ali Bacher : That is a very good observation. In the 60s there weer many outstanding Indian cricketers who sadly were not given the opportunity to play for South Africa because of the aparthied laws. Recently quiet a few young Indian cricketers have started to emerge and there is one in particular by the name of Hashim Amla from Durban who has the potential to play for South Africa. He in fact captained the South African U-19 team in New Zealand during the U-19 world cup during the early part of this year.

georgewho : Dr Bacher. The South African Cricket Board has been enrolled in controversies of the issue of racism. what has been done about it? and what are the chances of India winning the world cup?
Dr Ali Bacher : The United Cricket board of South Africa is a non-racial cricketing organisation. Transformation has taken place in South African cricket and I am confident that equal opportunities is now being provided to all South Africans who want to play the great game of cricket.

Dr Ali Bacher : The company EDUPORT, GULLINJET TRAVEL facilitates travel packages from abroad to the cricekt world cup and inclusive in that pakcage is a provision of guaranteed cricket world cup match tickets.

BUTCHER : Sir, any plans for WEBCASTING the WC matches...........bcoz in US, we have not been able to c the ICC trophy at all
Dr Ali Bacher : The television/internet rights are held by the Global Cricket Corporation who are in essence the ICC commercial partners. We would have to ask them what their intentions are.

ditto : MR.BACHER HOW DO YOU COMPARE CRICKET OF YOUR DAYS AND NOW AND WATS THE DIFFERENCE LIES IN IT?
Dr Ali Bacher : It is always wrong to compare toady's sportsmen or women with those of 30-40 years ago. Nevertheless there is one huge change for the betterment of the game. The fielding today is absolutely brilliant and outstanding and far betterwhen I played the game in the 60s.

bertietabac : whatever has happened to your son adam bacher? is he going to make a comeback soon say for wc03?
Dr Ali Bacher : WHen he plays well, he is my son. When he plays poorly he is my nephew. He is infact my brother's son and cotinues to play for Gauteng in the inter provincial competitions.

Dileep_h : Sir suppose if match fixing is taken place what action u r going to take ?
Dr Ali Bacher : There are very tough penalties initaited by the international cricket council if in the future any cricketer becomes party to this malpractice.

Ravikiran : Dear MrALI WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS ON wORLD CUP 2003 AND THE OPEANING CERMONY
Dr Ali Bacher : The opening ceremony in Cape Town on SAturday night February 8 will be the biggest opening ceremony seen in Africa and in world cricket. There will be 4000 performers on the famoud Newlands Cricket Ground. All the competing teams, umpires, referees will be part of the opening ceremony. At the cpnclusion of the opening ceremony the eight ICC world cup will be officially opened by the Presient of South Africa, Mr Thabo Mbeki.

Dr Ali Bacher : In conclusion I would say that the quality of the questions posed to me would indicate the audience is vey well versed in cricket and comprehends the game excellently. Hope to see you at the world cup.