Cricket South Africa takes a stand over ICC’s new draft proposal

CRICKET South Africa last night called on the International Cricket Council “to withdraw the draft proposal,” that would ostensibly place the leadership of the international game in the hands of three boards.

Cricket SA is members to publicly come out against the proposals raised in a paper presented at an ICC Board meeting on January 9 describing them as “fundamentally flawed” and “in breach of the ICC Constitution”.

The draft paper essentially outlines a new structure for the ICC under the auspices of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Cricket Australia and the Board of Control for Cricket in India. According to one report, presentation of the paper came as a surprise and has left many boards shocked, as it places the power for running the game in the hands of authorities in England, India and Australia.

Cricket SA’s decision follows a joint session of organisation’s Board of Directors and the Members’ Forum. “Without ad- dressing the merits of the proposal insofar as it concerns Constitutional amendments and changes to ICC competitions, these proposals should first be referred to the relevant ICC committees or sub-committees for proper consideration and to make recommendations to the ICC Board,” wrote CSA President, Chris Nenzani, in a letter to ICC President, Mr. Alan Isaac.

Most worrying is the proposed funding model which would see the three countries collect the highest proportion of revenues from ICC events – the BCCI for instance because it brings in the most revenue (a result of the bigger market in that country) would earn some 70 percent of income from the next World Cup if the proposals are accepted.