Administrators hindering spread of cricket, says Asia's top sports official

Asia's top sports official has criticised cricket administrators for treating the sport like a business, which, he said, was hindering the spread of the sport beyond the commonwealth. Cricket was included in the Incheon Asian Games - only the second time in the games' history - after a push from the Asian Cricket Council, but India did not send teams, Pakistan did not send their men's team, and Sri Lanka sent a second-string side.

"The people who are in charge of cricket are looking to be businesspeople and they want money more than promotion for the game," Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), said.

"You can be rich by the game but you have to cover the other sector, and this is why cricket is still only a commonwealth sport," he said. "They want to control the market, they want to control the game, they want to keep the big athletes for their own. This is not sport, this is business."

Cricket made its debut at the Asian Games in 2010, in Guangzhou, China, where India did not field a team. Bangladesh went on to win the gold medal, while Afghanistan finished with the silver. Pakistan, which had fielded a weaker team, were the bronze-medal winners. Al-Sabah said that this lack of interest from the administrators was "killing" cricket.

"I hope in future they will understand ... it's not your personal toy, it's the people's game and you have to deliver it for the people."