Non-Cricketing Reasons

[flanflinger]

We are about to witness a Test series between a severly under-strength West Indies team, with all the ommissions due to non-Cricketing reasons!! This follows the farce that has been Zimbabwe over the last twelve months and also the insane selection policy that saw Boucher dropped for SA.

Test cricket is about the best XI players from one Test Nation playing the best XI players from another nation. But it seems increasinly like other factors can effect the selection policy.

And where is the ICC is this farce.. I have heard nothing. If a Test team does not put out their Best XI players availiable (i.e. not including those who are unfit or non longer willing to play Test cricket) then they should be severally censured by the ICC. It robs the public, it robs cricket and it make a mockery of the game.

[Zainub]

I agree that the ICC should be doing more than it is at present. It only involves it self when a particular situation reaches its worst level.

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by Zainub Razvi

It only involves it self when a particular situation reaches its worst level.

Or if it involves them losing money.

[Beny]

And where is the ICC is this farce.. I have heard nothing. If a Test team does not put out their Best XI players availiable (i.e. not including those who are unfit or non longer willing to play Test cricket) then they should be severally censured by the ICC. It robs the public, it robs cricket and it make a mockery of the game.

And what would you have them do? Give the board a smack on the wrist and tell them how naughty they are for not making their own national team the best it can be?

Issues are going to crop up... People make mistakes but I think we can generaly have faith that the national boards want to put their best XI out in the field. The alternative is to not let them play and personaly I'd prefer to see weak cricket than no cricket at all.

[flanflinger]

Beny,

If you have a Future Tour Programme where all Test nations play each other, which is centrally controlled by the ICC, surely they should ensure that the best team available is on the field of play.

This means that if a particular board is not selecting the best team available (because of political or financial reasons) then they ICC should have the ability to intervene.

[Robb]

Originally Posted by Beny

And what would you have them do? Give the board a smack on the wrist and tell them how naughty they are for not making their own national team the best it can be?

Presumably they could hit the boards where it hurts - in the pockets.

[Occasional Fan]

Such an arrangement would be very difficult to enforce. We spend half our time here arguing about the appropriate selections for England's test matches and we never agree. Why should we expect the ICC to be able to determine impartially whether any country has fielded its strongest team? I understand the problem which FF has raised, but I just don't see practically what can be done about it. I understand that the WI issue is presently resolving itself, however, with some of the players breaking their private contractual arrangements with C&W (a competitor of the official WI main sponsor). In the end, I think that was probably inevitable. Mr Lara is not presently among those who has ceased his C&W relationship, but I predict that he will (either that or he will retire from international cricket in pursuit of a more lucrative career endorsing C&W mobile phone services).

[Ninjaman]

Why would he have to break his contract with C&W??

The board reviewed that contract and said he could sign it.

They actually did invite him for the first Test but declined in support of the other guys who were excluded.

In reality, none of the players should have had to give up contracts tehy signed as individuals to be part of the team, but due to incompetence by the board, it signed a contract which forced it into the position we now are.

[Occasional Fan]

Ninjaman - we discussed this earlier in the year. At the end of the day, leaving aside pure legal considerations and the morals of the issue (and morals, of course, don't always fit easily with business!), the pure, practical, hard-nosed, dollar-based position is going to be that Digicel, which has paid big brass to associate itself with West Indies cricket, is not going to be happy with having individual cricketers openly endorsing a competitor's product or service. I accept that it is not "right" for a sponsor to have influence on team selection, but I try in this case to look at it as if it were my millions of dollars being spent here. Quite frankly, I would not sit by and do nothing if Lara, a member of a team which I was paying to promote my name, was also promoting a competitor's. I would be putting as much pressure as I could on the WICB to keep him (or anyone else) out of the team, up to and including refusing to write my sponsorship cheque.

The WICB can't survive without Digicel's cash, so Lara is out. The solution is that Lara drops C&W - WICB may have to compensate him for that, and they may have to help him buy off C&W, but that is between them and Lara. What is between WICB and Digicel is a large pile of cash which they would risk forfeiting if Lara were fielded. Bottom line: WICB may have been daft to force themselves into this corner, but that's where they are and while they're there they will not field anyone who is associated with Digicel's competitor. It's just too risky.

Originally Posted by Ninjaman

The board reviewed that contract and said he could sign it.

If that's the case, then someone on the board was either incredibly naive or incredibly stupid. Either way, he (or the whole board) should be fired. It won't change the economic issue above though.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Beny

Issues are going to crop up... People make mistakes but I think we can generaly have faith that the national boards want to put their best XI out in the field. The alternative is to not let them play and personaly I'd prefer to see weak cricket than no cricket at all.

I agree do we want the ICC selecting national teams?,the last thing that is needed here is interference from the ICC or anyone, things will get sorted,