International Committee of Compromise

I am a west indian cricket fan and quite frankly i wonder why i still bother to follow the game. When the west indies complained about umpiring decisions we were told that the umpires get 90 percent of their decisions right. When India complain, the said umpire was removed at once. Nobody has suffered more bad decisions than brian lara especially against australia but we kept on playing. It seems as though India has now become a law onto itself only wanting to play australia and pakistan. So while other world sports continue to grow, cricket slips into less and less relevance in the west indies and other countries. The seeds india are sowing will bear fruit one day, i just hope they can live with the consequences of their actions

It's an absolute disgrace that the ICC still allows Zimbabwe to even be a member. All other issues are so minor compared to the way it kowtows to a disgracefully corrupt regime.

What do you think is UN? What do you think is FIFA? What do you think is NBA? These are bully headquarters of the world where the biggest bullies get a chance to sit across and negotiate and announce a compramise all the time. Cricket is growing to be no different. BTW.. why are they in the "Oil Capital of the world" where there is absolutely no cricket being played (DUBAI) .. worth pondering.

I think the only thing that the ICC has got right this time is protecting the sanctity of International cricket by not allowing designated blocks in the program for Domestic tournaments. Cricket needs to move forward for Cricket's sake, not because it enlarges the bank balance of the governing body. A Full Member nation should be playing Tests, and if they are not, their status downgraded. The Umpire's decision is final and all players should respect that. It wast the first thing that I was taught and should be the first thing that we are constantly reminded of. As for India being the only team spreading the game commercially, I reject that, Allen Stamford is putting a lot of money to spreading the game further in the West Indies and many Full Member nations have been involved in assisting Associates through either programs or participation in the domestic competitions (Australia - Bangladesh, Zimbabwe - Kenya, England - Scotland/Ireland (and previously also to Netherlands/Denmark)).

I've just read this sentence - "It was obvious that to maintain spectator interest, and more crucially, to protect the commercial interests of the World Cup, the major teams - India in particular - had to stay in the contest longer" about 5 times in mounting horror. Guys, this is sport, not a West End show. It is supposed to be unpredictable, that is why I and millions of others watch it!! The day we start designing competitions around the need for certain teams to stay in is the day I jack it all in and start watching daytime TV instead. You could do the whole thing in 3 weeks as 4 groups of 4, then q-final, semis and final. Great sudden death climax if all the Test sides are good enough to stay in, and if they are not then any mis-matches are brief and provide colour to the tournament. Viva unpredicatability!

How can the BCCI support Zimbabwe cricket? It is a racist, immoral, corrupt branch of an even more odious regime. Would the BCCI have favoured including SA in international cricket during apartheid? Maybe the BCCI should invite Myanmar or North Korea to join the ICC, I'm sure they'd be thrilled to be given such legitimacy in return for voting as the BCCI directs. It's no wonder the BCCI is so sensitive about allegations of racism if this is their standard. If this is the BCCI's concept of responsible administration then it has no business submitting officials for ICC posts.

The 2007 WC was jeopardised of its entertainment value only because, as someone mentioned earlier, India & Pak made first round exits. Notwithstanding that it was a bitter pill to swallow, Ireland's inspired performances against Pak & Zim were indeed heartening to watch. However, expecting the minnows to keep humbling the giants of the game for a protracted period of 45 days, is in mild terms, unreasonable. The '07 format was way better than SA '03, with only 3 matches per team at the league stage & besides, there is no doubt that a couple of upsets do add flavour to cricket's summit clash. But 30 league games featuring the minnows will only spoil the party. Public enthusiasm may take such a beating, that the sub-continent may only go through the motions of hosting the tournament. It is sad that such a situation may potentially arise in the Mecca of Cricket. Just a few more steps towards the downfall of the 50 over game as 20:20 spreads its wings!

ICC - Indian Cricket Council :) BCCI - Bullying Cricket Control from India. BCCI uses power without responsibility.

In each and every ICC meeting the only agenda for its members seems to be curtail BCCI's powers and how to stop it from becoming more powerful. In the last ICC meeting the main goal of its board members were to thwart Bindra from occuping the top post. So they made a fool of themselves and gave the post to someone who isn't even sure whether he wants it or not. ICC board members have to understand that they cannot just milk Indian cricket and its public for money but they got to give indian cricket its due respect. ICC is getting 85% of it money from india and still it treats BCCI like a prodigal child.English and australians who have controled the game for last 100 years weren't able spread the game globally or comerically. Only BCCI has managed to spread the game comercially in the last few years and give bcci the respect it deserves the game will spread globally too. Don't underestimate the Indian diaspora in america, cricket could gain a foothold in america

We all do know "who sets the agenda for world cricket these days" and nobody outside India wants to also see India in complete control of it's administration. Because it is apparent to everybody, it already pushes, cagoules, manoeuvres, and downright threatens anyone who dares stand in their way to get what they want. India as a nation has been downtrodden in many ways for centuries. But as is the way when this has happened and the downtrodden rise to a position of power, they misuse it. And the BCCI does badly misuse their power. Obviously it is not the way of all Indian administrators, but it is the way of many. And here in lies the problem. So until the Indian administrators realise it is world crickets "agenda" is more important than India's, I for one hope they do not also control the ICC... As hopeless and spineless as they can be at times.