ICC cannot deem 'Test' unofficial, says Dalmiya

The president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Jagmohan Dalmiya, issued a statement saying that the International Cricket Council cannot de-recognise the India-South Africa 'Test' that is due to start at Centurion on Friday.

The Indian and South African boards had decided to by-pass the ICC and hold the 'Test' with Denis Lindsay as match-referee after the ICC refused to withdraw Mike Denness following the furore over the penalties imposed on six Indian players at Port Elizabeth.

"Whether it is official or unofficial is governed by certain parameters," Dalmiya told Reuters in Kolkata on Thursday. "This can be decided only by the majority of the ICC's executive board."

He explained that Lindsay was on ICC's match-referee panel, while adding, "We (Indian and South African cricket boards) feel that it qualifies to be an official Test match."

"The ICC did not understand the seriousness of the situation. The decisions were extraordinarily harsh. We needed some accommodation."

Thursday's sensational events, which have shaken the ICC's very foundations, followed the parent body's refusal to withdraw Denness. This was Dalmiya's primary demand after Denness had banned Virender Sehwag from the Centurion Test. The match referee also slapped suspended bans on Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly, Deep Dasgupta, Harbhajan Singh and Shiv Sunder Das, as well as on Sachin Tendulkar for alleged ball-tampering.

Many famous former players, including Sunil Gavaskar, the chairman of the ICC's Cricket Playing committee and the man who ratifies the appointment of the match-referee, have come down heavily on the ICC's lack of flexibility. Gavaskar felt that the ICC should at least have decided to keep the bans in abeyance, a path that Dalmiya had left open for the game's parent body.

The dramatic decision of the two boards to take on the ICC now means that the parent body is facing a crisis of epic proportions. India, which has the largest audience for cricket all over the world and many million passionate fans, is not a country that the ICC can easily excommunicate. It also won't be easy for the ICC to do a somersault after their initially rigid stand in the Denness affair. South Africa, meanwhile, is where the next World Cup is to be held in 2003.

Also noteworthy would be the ICC reaction if the two countries decide to play the 'Test' with Sehwag also turning out for the Indian side. The presence of the latest century-maker-on-debut is almost certain now that the two boards have decided to take on the ICC. Nothing should prevent them from going the whole hog. Everything said, rest assured that the last has not been heard about the issue.