BCCI should take a leaf out of the ACB's book

The Deodhar Trophy, a premier inter-zonal competition is in progress now. Much has been said about the fact that Indian cricket's biggest names are not taking part in the competition. Having just completed a full series of two Test matches and five One-Day Internationals against the touring Zimbabweans, it is only understandable that players take time off from cricket. However, this does not take anything away from the need for the domestic competition to be enriched by the presence of India's best cricketers. The matter was one of logistics and planning, and in this regard, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has failed.

Although the structures of these domestic competitions has remained largely unchanged over the years, the BCCI is yet to schedule international and domestic fixtures in such a way that the domestic competition is played by the cream of talent available. In the defense of the BCCI, it must be said that the Indian domestic system is incredibly complex. At present, 27 teams take part in the Ranji Trophy Championship. Compare this with the Australian system. Only six teams take part in the domestic competition. With fewer teams playing, the chances of concentrating on improving quality are much higher. The BCCI certainly has not addressed this issue. With more and more new states being formed, the pressure to increase the number is going to mount.

The second interesting facet of the Australian system is the manner in which age group cricket is played. Recently, after a fortnight of cricket, Queensland were crowned the Under-19 champions in Australia. The tournament was organised without a glitch, there were no controversies and some good young talent was spotted. Only the day before, Haryana won the Cooch Behar Trophy, defeating Madhya Pradesh in the final and were crowned Under-19 champions in this country. The match ended in acrimony as each team accused the other of fielding players who were overage. As it turned out, the umpires had to call off play when Haryana were 321/7 because the ages of the remaining three cricketers was not yet proven to be within the required limit!

It's not as though proper precautions can't be taken before an age group tournament is played. Yet, the system followed and indeed enforced here leaves ample room for embarrassment. After all, the Aussies cannot be doing anything magical. They too depend on birth and age certificates.

Well, if these problems are deemed systemic, there is nothing one can do about it. The BCCI, despite having made big strides in dealing with scandals and match fixing allegations, has made no progress when it comes to making fundamental changes in the domestic system.

With the Australian Cricket Board having put proper systems in place to deal with their domestic cricket, they have the luxury of looking forward. Taking things to the next level, the ACB has taken it upon itself to organise an international domestic competition. International domestic? That does sound curious. The Aussie call the tournament "Global One-day Provincial Cricket Tournament." Taking part in the tournament are domestic champions from South Africa, India, New Zealand and of course the home side. Indian Ranji Trophy winners Mumbai get a chance to pit their skills against the finest from around the world. While this is indeed a fine opportunity for the lads from Mumbai, the board must view this as more. Instead of hiring all the foreign coaches and consultants, the Board would do well to send a few men over to a place like Australia. Imitation, they say, is the sincerest flattery. If the BCCI can start by imitating the ACB, things would look up.