ICC set for rights showdown with Indian board

There appears to be little sign of a thaw in the decidedly frosty relationship between the ICC and the Indian board.

The BCCI has opted to play a game of brinkmanship over the Members' Participation Agreement by waiting until the last minute before making noises that it might not sign, and now it emerges that its representatives failed to turn up to a meeting in Delhi which it had requested to discuss the likelihood of its bid for broadcasting rights to ICC events for the next eight years being accepted.

Newspaper reports this weekend indicated that Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, told the BCCI that it was free to make a bid, but warned that it would first need to overturn a recent decision by the commercial arm of ICC, ICC Development International (ICCDI). The ICCDI decided to restrict bids for the eight-year contract to "broadcasters and agencies", thus removing the BCCI from the list of those who might lodge a bid.

If any doubt about the power of the BCCI were needed, it is likely to come when the ICC meets in Mumbai in early November to discuss removing this restriction.

It would require seven of the ten votes to overturn the ICCDI ruling, and Cricinfo believes it has those. Recent meetings made clear that the BCCI can rely on the other three Asian countries to back it, and West Indies will almost certainly be onside after covert agreements made - but denied by both parties - at the time of the decision to award the 2011 World Cup to Asia. An insider said that Zimbabwe and South Africa, for different reasons, are also likely to vote with the BCCI.

Other parties thought to interested in the rights include Global Cricket Corporation, whose existing seven-year deal ends after the World Cup, and India's Zee TV.