Dalmiya takes charge - and cricket goes Mickey Mouse
Prem Panicker
Board of Control for Cricket in India general secretary Jagmohan Dalmiya on Tuesday assumed charge as president of the International Cricket Council for a period of three years.
Dalmiya, in fact, becomes the first president of the global governing body of cricket, with the post of chairman (held by Sir Clyde Walcott) being abolished with immediate effect.
The change in nomenclature is, however, merely cosmetic - call him president or chairman or just plain Jagmohan Dalmiya, the fact remains that for the first time in the history of cricket, an Asian will guide the fortunes of the sport that has, in recent times, become a growth industry thanks to a tremendous upsurge in television coverage and, consequently, corporate sponsorship.
With him at the helm of the ICC is David Richards, the chief executive. And interestingly, it was decided at Tuesday's meeting that Richards' term would extend for a further five years, after it expires in 1998.
Joining the Dalmiya-Richards axis in managing matters cricketing is an executive council comprising representatives of the nine Test playing nations, three nominees representing the 23 associate nations, chairman of associate nations Jorgen Holman of Denmark, and chairmen of three specific committees namely Sir Clyde Walcott of the West Indies (cricket); Dr Ali Bacher Bacher of South Africa (development); and Ehsan Mani of Pakistan (finance).
Among the topmost items on the ICC agenda, at its crucial meeting in England, was a proposal to play a 40-over tournament involving all nine Test countries at Orlando, Florida - the home of Disneyland.
The guiding spirit behind the initiative is Dr Bacher who, as chairman of the development committee, clinched a deal with Disneyworld director Reggie Williams late last week, regarding conduct of the tournament.
In the format Dr Bacher envisages, this tournament will be no more or less than a mini World Cup. Representatives of the Test countries have not yet come out totally in favour of the proposal, which calls for the first edition of what is proposed as an annual tournament to be played in September 1998.
However, all nine nations agreed that they would be amenable to playing in triangular ODI tournaments at Orlando, at least once over the next three years. Disneyworld, for its part, has assured the ICC that it will take on itself the responsibility of constructing a state of the art stadium for cricket in a part of the world where Mickey Mouse and baseball, rather than the sport of "flannelled fools", rules.
While Richards explained the initiative as a means of returning cricket to its roots - the ICC CEO reminded the media that the oldest international cricketing fixture in existence is the match between the United States and Canada - Dr Bacher indicated that the prime purpose of the tournament will be to raise funds which can then be usedc to promote the game elsewhere across the globe.
Cricket, it would seem, has just acquired a team of expert promoters who are all used to keeping a sharp eye on the bottom line.
Briefing the media after the meeting, the frontline team of Richards and Dalmiya agreed that the conduct of cricket across the globe has been, for a while now, rather haphazard. Interestingly, they also agreed that the volume of cricket matches had grown out of all proportion - in the season just ended, 41 Tests and 111 official one day internationals were played by the nine Test nations, besides the ICC Trophy for the associate members.
Promising to bring order out of chaos, Richards and Dalmiya indicated that their priority was to bring a semblance of sanity to cricket scheduling. Whether they are serious about this is moot, given that their first media briefing was dominated by news of the proposed tournament in Orlando and also given that Dr Bacher expressed himself in favour of holding the World Cup once every two years, and not once in four years as at present. And over and above all this, Dalmiya, Bacher and Richards indicated that they are in favour of the West Indies proposal for a world championship of Test cricket once every four years - the format being that each Test nation would in this period play all others at home and away, which again means a minimum of 16 Tests per nation per year.
Adding to the fun is the fact that Bangladesh and Kenya have both been inducted into the roster of full ODI-playing nations - which means that one day games involving these two sides will be full-fledged internationals from here on. Both nations are keen to take advantage of their entry into the big league by undertaking as many tours and playing as many tournaments as possible, and negotiations are already on between the boards of Bangladesh and Kenya and those of the nine Test playing nations regarding the scheduling of ODI fixtures involving the two sides.
How do these proposals, all of which call for more cricket, reconcile with Dalmiya's promise of a return to sanity? "That is a complex question," the new cricketing boss replies. "At this point in time, we are just starting out, we have received several proposals all of substance and are examining all of them. A decision will be taken on these issues only sometime in December."
"Sometime in December" refers to the proposed meeting of a select committee comprising Sir John Anderson of New Zealand, Dr Ali Bacher and Denis Rogers of Australia, who will submit their proposal to the next executive committee meeting of the ICC.
Interestingly, this next meeting is proposed to be held in mid-December in Calcutta, where Dalmiya has indicated he will set up a president's secretariat. This means that for the first time, the ICC meetings will move out of London.
The select sub-committee will, before its deliberations, consult the captains of the nine Test-playing nations, who are scheduled to meet at Lord's on July 11 under the aegis of Dalmiya, Walcott, Richards and Bacher, besides Doug Insole and Steve Camacho who are full members of the ICC cricket committee. The captains' meeting is expected to air reservations about the proliferation of cricket tournaments and the corresponding pressures, both physical and mental, on the players.
Given these factors, it is not at the present moment clear which direction global cricket will take during the tenure at the top of Jagmohan Dalmiya. However, one interesting fact perhaps deserves more than passing mention - earlier this year, there was talk that the ICC could split, that nations like New Zealand, Australia, England and possibly South Africa could opt out of the global body in the event of Dalmiya's accession.
In the event, Dalmiya has taken over. And his first meeting in the chair proceeded with a smoothness and lack of acrimony that has drawn plaudits from the international media.
And that, by any yardstick, is a good enough curtain raiser to what, all agree, could be a most interesting three years indeed.
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