FICA seeks return to ICC table

Cricketers the world over are seeking a return to formal representation at the ICC's decision-making tables, while also asking that administrators be assessed and made accountable for their performance in much the same way the players are.

In a new strategy document composed in the wake of the ICC's global governance changes in 2014, the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) has set out to position itself as a valuable parallel body to the game's governors. It wishes to be seen as a key avenue through which players can make themselves heard and a channel through which the ICC and others can address issues such as corruption and player safety.

FICA had held a spot on the ICC cricket committee until 2013, when the then executive chairman Tim May was voted out and replaced by the BCCI-affiliated Laxman Sivaramakrishnan. The strategy document calls for the inclusion of "at least two democratically elected current player representatives on the ICC Cricket Committee who are capable of representing the players' views".

It then goes on to state that "FICA should attend at the ICC Chief Executives Committee and be consulted on all relevant ICC event arrangements. FICA should have the right to present to and engage with the ICC at the appropriate time and in the appropriate forum on matters that impact on professional players around the world."

The loss of May's voice from the cricket committee reflected a global drift towards the BCCI worldview, which was confirmed when the "big three" reforms were revealed in January 2014 and ratified at the ICC's annual conference in June. May's successor Paul Marsh departed FICA and also the Australian Cricketers Association later in 2014, leaving the South African Tony Irish to be named FICA's executive chairman.

Irish met with the ICC chairman N Srinivasan in London in October, and is eager to find a way to bring his body closer to the ICC, the better to have an influence on key issues facing the game. While Irish and Srinivasan are at odds on plenty of topics, one on which they agreed on is the fact that cricket's distended schedule needs considerable refinement beyond the next cycle of commercial television rights.

Among other ambitions for the game, FICA asks that the game's administrators be subject to "Published Key Performance Indicators against which the performance of the game's leadership can be measured", while a "considered, meaningful and published global development strategy for the game with criteria for financial distribution based on performance" be put in place to address the often opaque nature of cricket governance.

"As the world players' federation in cricket, we intend to maintain a global view on issues that affect, and are important to, players and to players' associations around the world," Irish said. "Since the ICC's restructure last year, we've done a lot of internal work focussed on the role played by FICA and how best to represent the interests of the players in the present and future cricket landscape.

"The FICA Principles are a product of that work and they set out our ambitions under six pillars which we've identified as being important to the players and to the game. We are realistic about the challenges we face in ensuring that the benefits of effective player representation enjoyed by players in countries with strong players' associations are shared by all cricketers, but remain committed to ensuring their interests are properly served within the global game."

Many of the document's other clauses outline a path divergent from cricket's present direction. By outlining its aspirations in detail, FICA is hoping to be seen less as an opponent to the game's custodians and more a collaborator in the growth of the game.