FICA unhappy with Srinivasan’s new role

Suspended BCCI chief should have been cleared first, says chairman.

MELBOURNE: The Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (Fica) said on Friday that controversy surrounding N Srinivasan should have been resolved before he was elected the new International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman.

The Indian powerbroker was anointed by the ICC at its annual conference in Melbourne on Thursday despite being suspended by India’s Supreme Court as his country’s top cricket official after being named in a damning report into corruption allegations in the Indian Premier League.

Fica, which represents the players of all Test nations with the exception of India and Pakistan, said it was disappointed by the decision.

“We’ve seen in recent days significant changes at the ICC level, which represent a new era in terms of the administration and leadership of world cricket,” said outgoing Fica executive chairman Paul Marsh.

“Fica’s position on this is well known. Our strong preference was for the controversy involving Mr Srinivasan in India to be resolved before the ICC made a decision on the chairmanship,” added the Australian.

“While it’s disappointing that this did not occur, we can’t let this distract Fica from its responsibility of helping shape cricket’s future.”

‘Cricket in embarrassing situation’

Marsh later said in a radio interview that the sport was now in an embarrassing situation.

“It’s difficult to see how cricket has got to this point,” he said. “It’s one of the saddest things I’ve seen in cricket. It’s embarrassing for the game that we’re in this position.”

He added, “The process that they’ve gone through to get to this point is very concerning.

“Effectively what’s happened here is the ‘Big Three’ boards of England, Australia and India have taken over the world game.

“I don’t see that cricket has a huge future if the game becomes about three or four countries.”

South Africa’s Tony Irish was appointed Friday as Fica’s new executive chairman to replace Marsh, while former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams was reappointed as president at Fica’s annual meeting in Melbourne. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2014.

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