BOMBAY, 8 November — The standoff between New Zealand Cricket, as the New Zealand Cricket Board is now called, and the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time than now for the recently formed Indian Cricket Players’ Association. With New Zealand’s elite cricketers on strike from Oct. 1 for more share of the pie, there will be many an old hand in the Indian cricket board who will cite what’s happening in New Zealand as a reason to delay if not deny recognition of the Indian players’ body. Ever since big money came into the game, thanks to TV rights and share of the World Cup revenues, the players of all the countries have woken up to the fact that while the funds are generated on their ability to play the game, they are not receiving an adequate share of it.
While profits for the boards have gone up dramatically, the players have not received the same proportion of increase in their fees, be it the Test level or One-Day International level.
The cricketers’ bodies in Australia, England and New Zealand do take into consideration the first class cricketer in their countries when entering into any discussions with their boards.
In India, the first class cricketer is the poor third cousin of the Test and international cricketers, probably forgotten by those who have graduated to the international level.
This could be explained partly by the fact that the cricket schedule being so tight, the Test and one-day cricketer just does not play first class cricket and so is not up to date with the needs of his first class cousin. The pity is that even if he is not up to date, he has forgotten the very player in whose company and because of that association and competition he has gone on to represent his country in Tests and One-Day Internationals.
The key to the success of the new body is how it is going to tackle the development of first class cricket and the welfare of those who play in it.
It is extremely important for the board to look after the grassroots, for with job opportunities diminishing for the first class players and the season being a lengthy one, a first class player and the junior tournament players must have the incentive to carry on playing knowing as we all do that only a dozen or so eventually make it to the international league.
The Australian cricketers’ body has agreed with the Australian Cricket Board that it would get 25 percent of every dollar that the Australian board earns. To this the Indian cricket board president has announced that the Indian board will give one percent more to the Indian players.
That is fine, but who exactly are these Indian players? If it’s only the Test and One-Day International players then he will have satisfied a dozen or so players but left the other hundreds of junior and first class players with nothing. The thing to remember about the Australian and New Zealand player bodies is that they are agitating for all the players and not a privileged few.
To be sure, the number of players in Australia and New Zealand is much lesser than in England or India since there are only six or eight first class teams Down Under and so the first class player will also get a sizeable share of the percentage they are seeking, simply because the number of players is less.
More than the percentage share that is being offered, it might be more helpful to know where every dollar or every rupee goes. If the players are asking for 25 percent then there has to be an equal if not more percent for development of the infrastructure and the game itself. Some percent has to be kept aside for administration and this is where the other bodies seem to have their grouse for they think that more is spent on administrative salaries and travel than is necessary for the game.
In India of course, everybody is an honorary official excepting the recent Talent Resources Development Officers (TRDOs). Still, the expenses for meetings can run into several millions. The Australian selectors choose the team via teleconferencing which must be a fraction of the cost of them being in one place together for a meeting that might last 15 minutes, and when you read that there are no changes in the Indian team for the next Test, it makes you wonder if the selectors needed to be present at the Test for all five days if the eventual result of a 15-minute meeting was going to be an unchanged team.
Be that as it may, the developments in New Zealand will be keenly followed for if the strike goes on and the top players are unavailable, then India might perhaps play a team of juveniles or geriatrics. What an irony this is! Remember when the Ccontracts issue cropped up just before the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka and there was a real possibility of the top Indian players not participating, it was the New Zealand representative at the ICC who proposed and got passed a resolution banning future contests with India if the full Indian team did not play in the Champions Trophy.
Today the boot is on the other foot and it won’t be a surprise if Dalmiya now gets up and says that if the full New Zealand team is not going to be available to play the Indian team then the Indian team will not tour there.
Dalmiya has every excuse to say the first stone was cast by New Zealand with the proposal and passing of the above mentioned resolution in Colombo and the days of turning the other cheek have long gone.
How else does one explain a country that won its independence by nonviolence being a one that is so full of violence 55 years later? (Professional Management Group)
