International Committee of Compromise
The ICC has always been about expediency and the latest meeting of its executive in Dubai did nothing to prove otherwise, writes Sambit Bal in Cricinfo
Once again, a meeting of cricket’s decision-makers has yielded a series of half measures. Frankly, it would have been unreasonable to expect otherwise. The spirit of cricket has been much discussed recently; the ICC’s board can rarely be accused of lacking the spirit of accommodation. There is a good case in fact for adding a C to the ICC - for compromise.
Several of these were struck in Dubai in the previous week. IS Bindra, one of the principal satraps of the Indian board, wasn’t appointed the chief executive of the ICC, so a new post, principal advisor, was created specially for him. It was decided that the World Cup will feature fewer Associates, but will yet have more matches involving them than the previous edition did. “Serious irregularities” were found in the accounts of Zimbabwe Cricket - yet not apparently serious enough to warrant punitive action. Darrell Hair, the controversial umpire who is a stickler for the rules, was reinstated, yet it was clear he will not be standing in matches involving Pakistan - and possibly also Sri Lanka.
