Mumbai Mob is on the way out of BCCI…

Former India cricket captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth became the new Chairman of the National Senior Cricket Selection Committee on September 27, 2008 replacing Dilip Vengsarkar at the helm of affairs. Sharad Pawar stepped down as the Board President of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and was succeeded by Shashank Manohar. Sunil Gavaskar has already resigned from ICC (International Cricket Council), Ravi Shastri is no more the coach and Sachin Tendulkar in not going to be included in the team beyond 2009. This would finally bring to an end the Marathi Century of Cricket in India.

Hopefully, this would open the opportunities to a lot of cricketers from smaller states and smaller towns. BCCI is the main governing body for cricket in India. It was established in 1929 and uses government-owned stadiums across the country for a nominal annual rent. Now, BCCI circumvents any other organizations to use similar facilities. Legally, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is a private club, it does not permit any competition. The new board members might be a little more accommodating! The BCCI is the richest administrative body in the Indian sports domain. In 2007-08 for instance, the BCCI’s annual income went past Rs 1,000 crores for the first time in its 79-year history. It has more money annually than the Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

The cricket board is now in such good financial condition that it has instituted a pension scheme that covers more than 860 former players, umpires and widows of the former players. This initiative has provided the social security to the cricket fraternity to pursue cricket as their sole profession. It is good for the game and good for the professionals. In addition to this, the board has spent Rs 313 crores on cricket related infrastructure during the past three years. A similar amount has been passed on to the  20-plus State Associations. The BCCI spends 26% of its annual budget as payment to its top-of-the-line players for the domestic as well as international performances. Cricketers in India are rich by any standard.

Maharaja of Patiala, H H Sir Bhupendra Singh Mahinder Bahadur, was one of the chief patrons of cricket in India. He led the first unofficial tour of an “All India” team to England in 1911. The concept of a central control authority was never deliberated upon till the end of World War I in 1918. The ICC (former Imperial Cricket Conference) allowed a couple of representatives from the Calcutta Cricket Club to participate in their conclave held at Lord’s on May 28, 1926 on the condition that Indians would soon form a central authority for cricket. Because of this stipulation by ICC, the representatives of 45 clubs from different parts of India met at Roshanara Club in Delhi and formed a central board for cricket on November 21, 1927. W J Cullen and J E MacDonell were appointed as honorary joint secretaries of the provincial board.

This temporary board was dissolved in 1928 and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was constituted in its place. The first President of BCCI was R E Grant Govan, and A S De Mello became the founding Secretary. The Board met on December 4, 1928 and the meeting was funded by the Maharaja of Patiala. In 1929, BCCI got affiliated to the Imperial Cricket Conference. De Mello succeeded Govan as the Board President and later helped create the Cricket Club of India (CCI) at Brabourne Stadium. This became India’s first permanent cricket venue.

International Cricket Council (ICC)

International Cricket Council (ICC), the world governing body of cricket, was established on June 15, 1909 at Lord’s, England. It was then called the ‘Imperial Cricket Conference’ and the membership was confined to Australia, England and South Africa. India joined the conference in 1926, along with New Zealand and West Indies. These were the only six Test-playing nations in the world, at that time. Pakistan was included in the governing body in 1953, as the seventh Full-member and the newest Test-playing nation.

In 1961, South Africa was removed from the conference because of the international outrage against apartheid in that country. Imperial Cricket Conference was renamed the ‘International Cricket Conference’ in 1965. This new governing body expanded the rules of international cricket to other countries, from outside the British Commonwealth.