Cricket: Some Professionalism Won’t Hurt

The recent “ball tampering” accusation in the England Pak Test has spun completely out of control. Hair’s request for a golden parachute and the ICC’s handling of the crisis stinks to say the least. Why would the ICC release Hair’s email to them? Isn’t this a complete breach of confidentiality? What good is it for the ICC chief to proclaim the end of Hair’s career even before the investigation gets underway?

Pak’s handling of the crisis is equally pathetic. Its not clear who is in-charge of Pak communications on the issue! Woolmer issues statement on and-off, firstly about quitting, then about get rid of the ball tampering rule (Is this a pre-emptive strike?) altogether. Inzy’s lawyers are happy with the extension of the hearing date. Shahryar Khan meanwhile is issuing his own statements as is Zaheer Abbas!

The game has clearly grown over the years to attract some serious amounts money, sponsorship, match collections etc. Unfortunately the overall management both at the ICC level and that of individual nations leaves much to be desired. Another case in point is the upcoming World Cup and the complete mismanagement by the WI board as far as preparations, distribution of tickets etc. are concerned.

Perhaps its time for some experienced management to run these various organizations and bring in some much needed professionalism. This might mean looking beyond former cricketers and politicians turned administrators. If this does not happen soon enough the game is going to suffer as a whole.