Australian legend Ian Chappell was heavily critical of the International Cricket Council (ICC) describing it as “event management company” and said it needed a tag of “not a very good one”.
In his column for ESPNCricinfo, Chappell lambasted the ICC for not establishing a two-tier system and said that teams such West Indies need to be treated well.
“A system that includes promotion and relegation is feasible but there need to be certain criteria attached before a team attains Test status. Those should include: Do they have a viable first-class competition? Do they have legitimate grounds for holding five-day games? Do the grounds have adequate facilities? Are they financially stable?” the 81-year-old wrote.
Test status just for ICC votes
Chappell took aim at the ICC over granting Afghanistan Test status despite their political situation which doesn’t present them with the opportunity to host matches.
“Most of the recent Test-appointed nations don’t come close to meeting any reasonable criteria. For instance, could Afghanistan hold a Test series in their strife-torn country? Does Ireland have a realistic number of Test-standard grounds?
“Even setting aside the Taliban’s reprehensible treatment of women, the answer to those questions is: absolutely not. Then why do they have Test status? Because in return for Test status they provide valuable ICC votes on important issues,” the former Australia captain wrote.
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He said such reasons have turned ICC into an event management company.
“The ICC is widely regarded as an event management company. They should add “and not a very good one,” Chappell wrote.
Chappell felt that the presence of India in the ICC as well as the big share of revenues demanded by boards of India, Australia and England is a problem that needs to be tackled.
“The big three – India, Australia and England – despite being the wealthiest cricket nations claim a large slice of the money divided among cricket bodies, and yet they agitate for an even larger share,” he wrote.
The Australian legend felt that finances are the biggest reason for mushrooming T20 leagues around the world while it is in stark contrast to building a four-day ecosystem which is expensive in comparison.
“It’s extremely expensive to run a four-day competition and therefore not many beyond the big three (India, Australia and England) can really afford the burden,” he wrote.
“Cricket being run by a competent ICC is a pipe dream. Hence the growing T20 calendar and the current scheduling schemozzle that plagues the game,” Chappell added.
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