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| Sunday, 19 February 2006 |
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Stunning new hope for cricket By Nigel Kerner It is asked so often why cricket is the poor relation of all the major international sports. It is a question based on the frustrations so often encountered when hand to mouth arrangements are made by the poor major cricketing nations in taking their turn in holding major cricket tournaments in the spirit of egalitarian responsibility. The excuse often made is money, or the lack of it, as one cricket official said using that corny old adage, We have to cut our suit according to the cloth. The recent Under 19 Cricket World Cup of 2006 held in Sri Lanka is a case in point. I attended several matches and whilst the playing baize out there on the green and pleasant turf presented no significant problems, it was quite apparent that the attendance, and the arrangements for maximising attendance, was a travesty. An eye cast over all the major grounds told of just handfuls of spectators populating vast empty areas. So much so that the officials supporting the flash cards in some matches almost matched the spectators in numbers. And this in a country that is head over heels in love with the game. I sat heavy hearted and leaden with frustration watching some of the best cricket I have seen in recent years. The future of the game out there on the green baize toiled with youthful exuberance and expertise to a smattering of stalwart fans about three handfuls of them, mostly proud mums and dads. Withered desultory cheers greeted the exponencies of hand and eye, bat ball and wicket, as these magnificent young men did their best to ring out their talents on behalf of their nations. The new world of cricket is empty. The sound of crows and sparrows louder than the cheers. Here on this premier stage of cricket artisanship, the future of the great and noble game seemed dark and hollow and bereft. The last match I attended was at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium situated just on the outer environs of Colombo. Once the doyen venue of the Sri Lankan game, where the legends of the game played to thousands, we saw the officials and the ground staff almost outnumber the spectators. The stadium had seen better days, but it was evident that a great effort had been made to keep what was decaying and bare in its best solicitude. A huge life size wall relief showed the great Bradman and along one of the walls arguably the greatest batsman Sri Lanka ever produced, M. Sathasivam, had a whimsical notice speaking of the magic of his talent. Ah those bygone halcyon days of cricket splendour! Set against the here and now, it all spoke of neglect and foolishness, vanity and lost purpose. That, it seems, is where we stand today in the game. The halls of the rich and mighty display the vaults of splendid Cricket Academies whilst the romantics wax lyrical about lost opportunities for those playing in paddy fields and cul de sacs. Yet such as this reached out and won the Cricket World Cup. The last edge of a poet's pen. Money rules Money rules now. The colour of the cricket field is green and so is the dollar. A man called Kerry Packer saw to that. Whilst those who have it prosper, those who haven't reach for the skies and play a game of whimsy in cloud cuckooland. We aim to make the game strong all over the world say the heralds of the ICC. Look at the steps we have taken to do this, and that, in bringing the game to women and the blind. Worthy though this all is, they miss the whole point by a beamer and deliver themselves a doosra. Without bums on seats in pleasant stadia in mostly poor countries they have lost the game before they start playing it. Money now rules and there is no going back. It is a fact of dressing room size. Look at the fiscal horizons of Soccer, Basketball, Golf, Tennis, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Athletics, Ice Hockey. Billions sight their value and Cricket, arguably the best and one of the oldest of them all, languishes for most part as the last post of the pound, dollar, rupee and cent. The 20th player on the professional golf circuit makes more money than the Sri Lankan Board does in an average year. Imagine how many national Cricket Boards can be run with the earnings per annum of David Beckham. It is that mind haltingly bizarre. There are some who will claim that money is not the root of all cricket evil. Mismanagement, lack of vision, and the personal ambitions of various cricket administrators is more the demon of it all. There is some truth in this. But the final notice that moves the red and white ball with sparkle to the boundary and the stumps, is now alas the power of the fiscal root to get the best to the game and to keep them there. To keep them in the secure vault of an assured future in the game where their presence in it does not mortgage the long term wellbeing of the family because the road to cricket glory starts when you are young. Whilst I might seem a tad prosaic about it all, I think all those who know the game through their hearts for its power to bring out the best in the minds of men and women, the straight reportage speaks starkly about opportunities lost. The worst of motives and purposes cover the Cricket Boards all over the world too often with the ugly sap of ambition narcissism and self interest. It all points in one direction. It all points to a simple solution. Bring in more money. Ironic isn't it. Bring in so much money that it will erase corruption at a stroke and provide incomes so attractive that every young heart in the streets of Karachi, Mumbai, Birmingham, Soweto, or Harare, will beat with an ambition to take on the leather and the willow. Ideas to boost income It is easy for any commentator to prescribe the malaise and provide no idea of a cure, so here goes one idea, for what it's worth. I propose that the ICC create a 'World Cricket Passport'. This passport will provide the means that will enable the poorest fan in the cricketing world to become an annual holder of the means to be admitted to any cricket match in the world, under the purview of the ICC. The cost of the passport would be minimal. A value of US $5.00 is suggested as a nominal fee to start the fund. This is to allow the poorest fans around the world to be 'shareholders' and hands-on spectators in the great game. The 'ICC World Cricket Passport' will draw on the vast fan base for the sport of cricket, mostly in the Indian sub-continent and all over the cricket playing world, and proposes a mechanism whereby the huge numbers of this fan base be given an opportunity to actively support, through an 'emblem' or 'shareholding', or 'right of entry passport', the game of cricket as a world wide entity. The 'passport' would entitle the holder to admission to any ground, match, or venue (excluding private games especially designated) conducted under the general authority and auspices of the ICC, and or, supported fiscally by all the Cricket Boards around the world, in the future. This should include all club and local matches organised under a nation's national cricket authority. The idea is that the future cricketers of the world - the adult or child in the poorest situation, in the poorest regions of the world, and those from the richest backgrounds - are nominal equals in the support and enhancement of the great game, for the cheapest possible cost. The size of the cricket fan base is so large that a mere $5.00 stipend for the passport could be afforded by everyone and would provide enough money, estimated as large as US$ 5 billion per annum, to make cricket one of the richest games in the world and ensure a fair dispersal and remuneration for everyone who plays and administers it. As things stand, privilege measured in fiscal or societal terms usually determines who sits at a ground and watches a match. Even in India where tickets seem to be the cheapest. The occupants of air-conditioned stands and boxes, where those who can afford it, too often determine the most important things in the furtherance and practice of the game. Administration The 'WORLD CRICKET PASSPORT' should be ordained exclusively under the world cricketing body's authority and auspice - The ICC. It can only work under the purview of the World Cricket Authority perhaps under the nominal designation: A WORLD FUND FOR CRICKET . The revolutionary nature of the idea and the huge impact it is likely to have on the game fiscally, requires the sponsorship of the world body controlling it. The gathering and disbursement of the funds has to be done by the world governing body under its total and specific umbrella and no one else because governments have to play ball and only a world authority can get this to happen. The 'World Cricket Passport' The passport may be a little laminated card, perhaps under the title 'World Cricket Passport', 'International Cricket Passport', or some such nominal. The method of acquisition, security and distribution of the little laminated passports may be carried out through simple management procedures commensurate with each specific country's capacity to carry them out. In Western countries for instance the passport may be bought at any newsagent where one would buy a lottery ticket. On the other hand, specially designated selling venues with a cricketing relevance may be used. Whilst the security aspects of the procedure might provide some problems, (it is always the way with such things) a good and well qualified management team with a few MBAs in their number should be able to come up with a marketing procedure and strategy that works internationally. International entitlements National entitlements should be equal for all nations in the first five years of the fund. The pooled sum, let's say US$ 5 billion per annum should be equally divided among the ten Test playing nations, after deduction for collection, running the Fund, advertising and administration costs are subtracted. As I say this should continue for perhaps the first five years till the world setting of the game is transformed. It could then change in its disbursement ethos. It may be that countries with a higher player number base should get more. It may be that allocations are requested as and when they are needed by nations and granted on a pro rata basis after suitable studies and results are inspected and approved. Where the national need conflicts with the international need, the ICC opinion, as the world body controlling the international game, should take precedence over the national one. I believe that at all costs no advantage of any fiscal benefits from the Fund should be allocated to the site where the most WPC's are sold. Cricket fans are an international fraternity and I like to think a fraternity of gentlemen (unlike the football variety) with a sense of deeper comradeship and fellowship and thus care for one another. Whatever system is employed for the disbursement of funds from the central collection source; the WCF, the crucial thing is that this whole process is done in as fair and democratic way as possible, in the interest of ALL cricketers and world cricket as a whole and not single national, ethnic groups or personal interest groups. In this way a cross multi cultural stance and fellowship may be established in the interests of all cricket fans as a single quantum, regardless of where they come from. It is hoped that in this way we can see off the corrupter, whether he or she is a bookie, or covert racist, and the past noble ideals and dignity of the game be maintained and defended into the future. Benefits I propose that the majority of seating space at any given match be reserved for holders of a 'World Cricket Passport'. Perhaps 80 per cent of the spectator stand space in any ground can be reserved for WCP holders and admission should be given on a first come first served basis. At the grounds it will be primarily on a first come first served basis but maybe a mechanism for the advance reservation of a proportion of these seats might be instituted for a small fee. In all eventualities the majority of the seating has to be reserved for the WCP holders. It is the underlying ethos of the whole scheme. This will ensure no favourites and courtiers get preferential treatment, simply because they can afford it, or 'know someone' and that the ordinary fan who's collective money power runs the engine, and most of the car, will get, and be seen to get, the most benefit. It will, I hope, ensure that every seat, so often seen empty, at so many Test and non Test matches, will be filled by perhaps the young future aspiring stars of cricket, who will be able to see the game first hand. It will perhaps serve as a point of encouragement for the propagation and promotion of future talent. The aspect of any game is so different when seen live at first hand. The young aspirant will be able to gauge much better the merits of a particular cricketing situation in a real context and not through the distorting and removed stance of the same game seen on TV. They will be there yards away from the real thing. If done efficiently and expeditiously the Fund could be set up in a year and, if advertised and collected properly, the revenues from it could easily top $US 5 billion per annum, as I have said. This vast amount of money of course will provide all the grounds, stand space, national cricketing facilities and player and ancillary staff remuneration and emoluments to make cricket as it deserves to be, one of the richest and most well furbished games in the world of sport. Most of all our beloved game will stand on its own feet with no inherent dependence on sponsorship and TV rights. The enhanced facilities provided will serve to ensure the survival of the game in the parts of the world it is threatened (the West Indian islands for instance) and encourage the highest standards of play and administration of any game. It is likely to see off forever the sad bribery and corruption episodes in the game we have all witnessed. The idea that the poorest of the poor fan and supporter will be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with his richer counterpart as an equal supporter of the world game is to many an attractive and just one. Of course the assertion will then be levied that it is unfair the poor should be supporting the rich. (Sociologically of course they have been doing this in every country of the world throughout history.) The fact remains that the returns from the scheme as proposed could be so enormous and so significant and serve the game so well, the question is best posed thus: Is there any other idea or way that would bring about so much for so many in cricket with relatively so little effort, that we can afford to ignore it. A summary of benefits For example all the following could be easily achieved with a properly run and administered Fund by the ICC: Each Year 800 million dollars could be given to each and every Cricket Board of the main Test playing countries per annum. Or The ICC could take responsibility from this fund to build : 10 new Cricket stadiums with their grounds in each of the 10 main cricket playing countries costing US $ 10,000,000 per stadium - each year. Pay every single one of the top 15 Test players in all the Test pools of the 10 Test playing nations in the world US$ I million per annum minimum salary. Pay US$ 50,000 per annum to 600 top level players below Test class in the TEN Test playing nations. Pay US$ 50,000 to each of 2,000 cricket playing schools around the world to improve their facilities and pay their sport teachers a cricket stipend to be added to their salaries per annum. Pay US$ 200 million to each of the Cricket Boards in the world with a Test Team for administrative staff costs and ground and cricket facility maintenance. Purposes after all the above is deducted There will of course be those who will say that this amount of money will add to corruption and corrupt practices in all the test playing nations to the detriment of the game. Of course this is true. But this is a specious argument in the end. Other sports with billions coming in are run well. Corruption and corrupt practice will always be there, in all walks of life. The point is surely that the ICC rises to the challenge and in the interests of our noble game introduces measures that will minimise it and its effects. The wonderful advantages that will accrue from a well managed fund are so advantageous to the world game this alone cannot be a reason for not adopting it. Those who know anything about Cricket know it is primarily a game of the mind and less a game of the hand and the foot. It is also a game of the heart. A heart that beats together in its fans and a family of nations that have for over a century seen it with a fond parochial sense, unlike most other games. The natal land that gave us so many great world sports - England, languished until recently with a cricketing malaise that saw it droop in submission to the rest of the world. The Motherland of Cricket wilted for too long. But the phoenix in us all never dies and we have recently seen it take flight in magnificent splendour to rise above Australia. It all proved of course that it is all about rising above prevailing norms. To me cricket without a strong West Indian contribution is unthinkable. Their Board are at the moment in desperate financial need. The beguiling dollar seems to take so many out of the game of cricket on the islands, for the richer dollar fields of American Football and Basketball, and of course better paid jobs. The thought that we might never see a Worrell, Weekes, Walcott, Sobers, Lara, or Richards, will for me take most of the gilt off cricket's gingerbread. It must never be allowed to happen. The Indian nation will probably be the Patriarch of the world game in the future. Most of the WCPs will of course be sold in India and the sub continent with their huge fan base. It will be their generous hearts we will have to count on to rescue the game. They will have to allow an equal distribution of the funds in the interests of the whole game. All the Test playing nations are equals in the context of the game itself and as such the equitable distribution of the FUND in at least the first years and should be an imperative insisted on till we have all the basic infrastructure and minimums and maximums of salary levels the same for all countries. The distribution of the fund must not be based on any gradient, or we will end up with those with the most powerful fiscal bases always in the ascendant in getting the best talent, especially if Cricket goes the way of football and you can buy your talent abroad. The best players will end up with the richest countries. Lanka's talent Sri Lanka in winning the World Cup without Cricket Academies and with the most frugal infrastructure proved that great talent can be home grown. It would be nice if the situation where money does not matter could continue, but in the real world the fiscal imperative blows at hurricane force and the richest countries with the highest value winds now hold a great advantage. The case of the West Indian predicament, and of course some other countries in the Third World, prove this. These rich countries may see this scheme as something that will lose them the advantage money and what it provides in terms of facilities. They I am sure can see the writing on the wall. The Sub Continent, and its billion or so avid fans of the game, is cricket's future. Yet any marginalisation, for whatever reason, should be anathema when seen against the interests of the game and all its fans world wide. Cricket fans are a pretty decent bunch when put against the fans of other combative sports. If you want to see a fraternal sense in such a sport that survives within the violent behests of present times, go watch a cricket match. Then go and sit on any English premier division terrace. You will see that civilisation is not two thousand years old, or skin deep. You will see that the animal in man is separated from the outside world by the thickness of a pinstriped suit. You will see it every week, week in and week out, on any football terrace in a green and pleasant land famed for her gentlemen. Perhaps the new ICC president is a visionary. If far vision was necessary
in any great sport, cricket needs one now. With a well thought out fair
schematic for the collection and administration of the World Cricket Fund
and a World Cricket Passport, it might just be that we see only winners all
round now and in future generations. The game deserves to do so. |
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