Shah’s new dig at ICC

Shambolic end to World Cup final indicated how professional the international body has been, says BCCI secretary

The cricket board today took another dig at the degree of professionalism shown by the International Cricket Council by sarcastically saying the ICC was perhaps “too professional” which resulted in the shambolic ending to the World Cup final on Saturday.

“The ICC keeps reminding us (BCCI) that we need to be more professional in our functioning. But the entire world has seen the way the World Cup final was conducted. May be the problem is they (ICC) are too professional (for their own good),” said BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah from London.

Shah witnessed first hand the farcical ending of the final on a rain-ruined day when five ICC-appointed and contracted officials could not decipher the rules governing a truncated ODI that resulted in the match continuing well after it should have been declared in Australia’s favour.

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Shah reiterated that the BCCI might take up the matter of taking to task the ICC’s officials, especially its Chief Executive Malcolm Speed, at next month’s meeting in London.

“I did say to the Australian reporter that the ICC has too many employees and is tied down by bureaucracy,” he said. “I did not say that a no-confidence motion could be brought about as I know most of the ICC personnel are paid employees,” he added.

Meanwhile, PCB has said it will extend support to BCCI if the Indian board decides to bring in a no-confidence motion against the top brass of the ICC, according to media reports here.

Earlier, Sri Lanka Cricket Chief Executive Duleep Mendis had said that a no-confidence motion remained an option, especially after the World Cup final fiasco. “That is something we will have to discuss and then perhaps take it up at the chief executive’s meeting,” Mendis said.

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It spells serious trouble for the governing body, and its chief executive Malcolm Speed at next month’s ICC Executive Board meeting, which now threatens to turn into an ICC vs Asian bloc battle.

Reacting to BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah’s recent interview to an Australian daily in which he did not rule out bringing in a no-confidence motion against the “more and more bureaucratic” ICC top brass, “well-placed sources” told The News that the PCB would throw its weight behind BCCI in the meeting.

The relations between the game’s governing body and BCCI, its richest member board, have never been easy and Shah told The Age that there would be quite a few things to be “sorted out” at the next ICC chief executives meeting.

PCB’s relations with ICC have also been soured by last year’s Oval fiasco, in which Pakistan forfeited a Test match to England, and sources said the Pakistani board would like to see an Asian or African replace Macolm Speed as the ICC Chief Executive. PCB Media Director Ahsan Malik, however, said that the board officials have not discussed the issue yet.