Administration

The inexplicable ways of Pakistan cricket

England news

ECB pick a diamond for a managing director

Simon Hughes in the Telegraph lauds the ECB's decision to appoint former England wicketkeeper Paul Downton as the board's managing director, stating that the latter is more than capable of rising to the challenges of his new job.

Behind the benign facade was a determination and a commitment to succeed and a total dedication to the team. He does not possess an iota of selfishness, and willingly took on the most demanding role both for Middlesex and subsequently for England, keeping wicket, cheerleading and batting in the middle order. He made the most of his ability. Many times having laboured for hours behind the stumps against the all-conquering West Indies, he went in to face the full wrath of their fearsome pace attack when the chips were down and stabilised the innings. He was a human pacifier.

Tendulkar: not a players' player

Pakistan: trying to run before they can crawl

Two friends, lost in a maze

Indian cricket

The challenges facing N Srinivasan

Deccan Herald runs an editorial on the challenges facing N Srinivasan and the responsibilities to be undertaken by the man who was recently re-elected as BCCI president for a third term.

The way Srinivasan mowed down his detractors was quite ruthless. Niranjan Shah and Sudhir Dabir were shown the door at the first hint of taking sides with the rival camp led by Sharad Pawar and Shashank Manohar. Lalit Modi, once his closest aide and now his strongest critic, has been banned for life from the activities of the BCCI. It's time then for Srinivasan to show the same diligence while reconstructing the battered image of BCCI.

Cricket fixes Twitter problems

'The US doesn't need the ICC to be successful'

South African cricket

South Africa's domestic players brace for impact

South Africa versus India was billed as one of the premier clashes of the 2013 calendar. Now, however, the tour is almost certain to be stunted from the original three Tests, if not abandoned altogether as the respective boards are locked in a power struggle. If the tour is scrapped, not only will the fans be deprived of some great cricket, Cricket South Africa's finances will also take a big hit. Every domestic cricketer could end up losing R160,000, writes Neil Manthorp in Business Day.

In South Africa the percentage of Cricket SA's (CSA's) gross revenue that comes the way of the players is a little under 20%. If India's tour of South Africa at the end of 2013 is severely curtailed, as it now has to be if it is not cancelled altogether, the likely loss of revenue to CSA will be in the region of R200m. Twenty percent of that is R40m, of which 40% goes directly to the domestic players in the six franchises, a sum of about R2.7m. Each franchise has a contracted squad of about 17 players, which breaks down to an average of R160,000 per player.

Boardroom games

What are cricket boards for?

Australian cricket

Bracken looks to trade dressing room for political office

Having spent eight years of his life swinging a cricket ball for the Australian cricket team, Nathan Bracken has now set his sights on a different pitch: politics.

Bracken, who is Australia's second highest wicket-taker among left-arm quicks in ODIs, announced on his Twitter account on Sunday that he would be running as an independent in the Central Coast federal elections for the New South Wales seat of Dobell against former Labor MP Craig Thomson.

''I guess it got to the point where I didn't want to be the person that sits in the cafe saying 'oh jeez I wish I'd done this', or 'this should change','' Bracken said, according to Australian newspapers.

While he has Champions Trophy and World Cup medals in his kitty, Bracken remained wary about his chances of registering similar levels of success in the new arena immediately, while identifying youth unemployment and high school drop-out rates as among the issues that need addressing.

"I want to be somebody who gets out there and stands up and says let's try and change things, let's try and move things forward on the Central Coast for the betterment of the people who live here," Bracken, a 10-year resident of Central Coast, said.

Indian cricket

Grassroots the way

The KSCA have targeted grassroots cricket in order to find the next crop of Indian cricketers, and perhaps more importantly, Anil Kumble's management are attempting to provide young cricketers easy access to every facility needed to better their career. So a 33-acre plot of land in Alur, an hour and 20 minutes from Bangalore, has been fashioned into a cricket academy, with hopes of eventually becoming a Centre of Excellence, writes Venkat Ananth in Yahoo Cricket

Inaugurated in June 2012, the Alur facility now houses the Royal Challenge-KSCA Academy, headed by Indian legend Gundappa Viswanath. Srinath said, "Initially, academies in Karnataka were used for specific representational teams, like the Under-19 squad would train here for a camp ahead of a tournament. Access was limited, and it would almost seem like a transit camp. But now the idea is to make full use of the facility all round the year."

India cricket

BCCI and the pervasive stench of corruption

In Caravan magazine, Prem Panicker comments on the culture of a 'moral safe-house' within the BCCI, a result of the fact that the board has done little to guard itself against corruption as was evident from the recent instances of conflict of interest within the board.

The problem is rooted in the fact that in the years since 1996, the BCCI perfected to a fine art the business of cricket, and brought unimaginable wealth into the sport, without any revision of operating procedures to guard against corruption. Thus means, opportunity, and the ability to rationalise aberrant behavior--the three classic elements of the fraud triangle--came together. And to this, the BCCI systematically added a fourth element as a safety net: over-arching political patronage.

Pakistan Cricket

PCB fail to make a stand

The schedule of all ICC events until 2023 was determined at the governing body's annual conference in London this June and Pakistan will not be hosting any during that period. Former ICC president Ehsan Mani, in the Express Tribune, criticises the PCB and its acceptance of this proposal, while urging the board to take the necessary steps to bring international cricket back to Pakistan

This development reflects the sad state of affairs within the PCB. The body has been dysfunctional and there has been no strategic planning or a roadmap to bring back international cricket to Pakistan. The bottomline is that no progress has been made since the tragic attack on the Sri Lankan team. They have basically adopted a hit-and-miss approach in asking various cricket boards to pity them and visit. This unprofessional attitude has put them in no-man's land.

The rebel cricket conference

Pakistan cricket

The talented Mr Najam Sethi

Mani Khawaja insists criticism against Najam Sethi's appointment as interim president of the PCB is a sign of people wanting to stir things up. He says Pakistan cricket is in good hands, even if they are largely inexperienced in cricket administration, through a satirical blog entry in the Express Tribune.

With a deteriorating infrastructure that was failing to produce quality cricketing talent, mired in controversies and allegations of nepotism and sexual misconduct, a very capable and seasoned pair of hands was needed to steer the ship back into steady waters.

And that is why the current government went with Najam Sethi, a senior journalist with no prior experience in cricketing matters whatsoever

Arthur the victim of a revolution?

The Investec Ashes 2013

Australia need to learn to love the coach

An unsettled Australian team has historically never done well in England and with problems regarding the team surfacing on this tour, questions are being asked of Australia's ability to match England in the upcoming Ashes. How they counter these problems, according to Tim Lane in the Age, will depend on team unity and the backing that the coaching staff - specifically Mickey Arthur and Pat Howard - can provide to Michael Clarke.

Australian cricket took a long time to accept the concept of a coach. Bob Simpson was the first and he was eventually forced out for being too interventionist. Ian Chappell, who profoundly influenced Australian cricketers over more than one generation, always said coaches were for transportation from hotel to ground. Shane Warne, whose level of influence needs no elaboration, was similarly dismissive. These two are archetypal figures of Australian cricket and their views resonate. Right now, though, it's hard to avoid the view that Clarke needs all the support he can get from off the field. And if that involves tough love, so be it. Those who are causing trouble need to be confronted with the type of coaching discipline footballers expect to receive if they wilfully step out of line.