The 'Who Killed Woolmer' Jack-Pot: Strangely enough the action of the field is hotter than the action on the field in this year's Cricket Worl Cup. Even my wife, who is not the keenest of cricket fans regularly tunes in to the sports news programmes to get a sniff of an Agatha Christie 'Who-dun-it' saga. The news channels aren't complaining. What MAX lost in India's defeat was the 24 hour news hounds gained in Woolmer's death.
The importance of the Bob Woolmer Case (it is not safe to call it a 'Murder Case' for everyday there is a new theory on how he died) is the match fixing angle. I do not have much to add to all the speculations on the issue of match fixing. But I just have one question to ask. If the ICC was serious about fighting match fixing, why is it that the official website of Wisden Cricket - www.cricinfo.com has links to Cricket Betting?
Chappel and India's Crash: We are all disappointed at India's exit from the World Cup. But let that not make us lose sight of some basic facts. India's trip to the World Cup came shortly after what can be term a series of mega debacles - in West Indies, in South Africa and in the Champion's trophy. But just before the World Cup we played like tigers against the West Indies and the Sri Lankans - on home pitches, on known conditions. I presume this schedule was engineered by the board to drive up the frenzy before the World Cup. The media blurted out headlines - "The nightmare is over, the hopes are high". But if we remember history we can feel a little less taken aback by the Indian team's performance. In fact I think Greg Chappel was correct when he pointed out that the last time that the Inidian team has won a tournament abroad was in 1985! There is a little bit of history to it.
So that brings us to the favourite question of them all - who is to blame for the debacle. Chapple has had to take a lot of flak for the 'process' that to took the team through - the biggest of them being the row over the dropping of Sourav Ganguly. Recently a sports journalist has come to Chappel's rescue by suggesting that Chappel had not been given the freedom to continue with the 'process'. A lot of discussion has taken place on whether Chappel should have had the freedom or was the BCCI correct in reining him in; whether it should have been Old Guns or the Young Blood.
My opinion, however, is that Chappel should have had the freedom to carry out the 'process', but only if the 'process' yielded results. You cannot build a team while the team is losing day in and day out. One cannot treat the cricket team like a much delayed construction project which puts up a sign saying - "TODAY"S INCOVINIENCE FOR TOMORROW"S EASE". A team has got to win. That is how Australia built its champion side.
Chappel cannot be absolved of all blame, nor is he the only one to blame. I think Indian cricket needs serious reforms. The organisational structure of Indian Cricket continues to be skewed and undemocratic. Certian states have upto 3 or 4 Associations, while the entire North-East doesn't play cricket. There is a feudal mindset which goes into the team selection from the district level which does not allow new and talented players to emerge.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Cricket, Chappel, Cash and Crash: Part 1
The cricket world cup is over. No I am not merely emotionally reacting after the exit of the Indian cricket team after the first round. That of course. But also we must take into account the exit of the Pakistan team and the dismal performance of the West Indies in the Super-8 which may see it failing to make to the semi-finals.
Let's face it the bulk of the viewership of world cricket comes from the Indian subcontinent, and with both India and Pakistan out, the TRPs have fallen dramatically. Advertisers have pulled out ads featuring the India cricket team. Pepsi has discontinued the Blue Billion campaign which sought to hunt for the craziest fan of the Indian cricket team. In fact, Sony MAX which is bringing the World Cup matches live to India has Rs. 40 crore worth of advertising slots unsold. It had held back the sale of these slots to sell them at a higher price once India entered the Super 8s stage. But that was not to be. In fact, the advertisers who have already purchased the slots for these matches now want to renegotiate the price. Sony in turn says that since it is the ICC which charges a royalty from the advertising revenue, it is the ICC which will have to reduce its charges.
Also, we need to note that the World Cup related tourism that was expected to flow into the countries of the West Indies have now dampened. The tourists were mostly to be from among the expatriates from the Indian subcontinent who live in North America.
On the other hand the lackluster performance of the West Indies team against New Zealand threatens to drive out even the in-stadia audience. As it is most of the matches are being played before empty stands. Even the West Indies v New Zealand match had a 50% spectator presence. Ominous signs for the organisers and the ICC.
Idea! Would it have been better for the ICC to ensure that Pakistan, India and West Indies should definitely have proceeded to the Super 8s!
By the way, as it seems most likely it is Australia who are going to win this year's edition as well. If so, I think that it is going to be very negative for the business interests in cricket. For it gets more and more predictable. This is a different generation of the Australian team than that which won in England 1999 under Steve Waugh. The success of the Australian team can spell a doom for TRPs of cricket worldwide. I suggest that in the next Cricket World Cup, Australia should play only one match and that is the Final. That will help retain some interest in the tournament at least till the semi-Final stage.
But I hope that Australia wins. For then we can claim that it was immaterial whether India went out in the 1st round or not - it was inevitable that Australia would win. The tournament and all its victories and defeats were point less.
to be continued....
Let's face it the bulk of the viewership of world cricket comes from the Indian subcontinent, and with both India and Pakistan out, the TRPs have fallen dramatically. Advertisers have pulled out ads featuring the India cricket team. Pepsi has discontinued the Blue Billion campaign which sought to hunt for the craziest fan of the Indian cricket team. In fact, Sony MAX which is bringing the World Cup matches live to India has Rs. 40 crore worth of advertising slots unsold. It had held back the sale of these slots to sell them at a higher price once India entered the Super 8s stage. But that was not to be. In fact, the advertisers who have already purchased the slots for these matches now want to renegotiate the price. Sony in turn says that since it is the ICC which charges a royalty from the advertising revenue, it is the ICC which will have to reduce its charges.
Also, we need to note that the World Cup related tourism that was expected to flow into the countries of the West Indies have now dampened. The tourists were mostly to be from among the expatriates from the Indian subcontinent who live in North America.
On the other hand the lackluster performance of the West Indies team against New Zealand threatens to drive out even the in-stadia audience. As it is most of the matches are being played before empty stands. Even the West Indies v New Zealand match had a 50% spectator presence. Ominous signs for the organisers and the ICC.
Idea! Would it have been better for the ICC to ensure that Pakistan, India and West Indies should definitely have proceeded to the Super 8s!
By the way, as it seems most likely it is Australia who are going to win this year's edition as well. If so, I think that it is going to be very negative for the business interests in cricket. For it gets more and more predictable. This is a different generation of the Australian team than that which won in England 1999 under Steve Waugh. The success of the Australian team can spell a doom for TRPs of cricket worldwide. I suggest that in the next Cricket World Cup, Australia should play only one match and that is the Final. That will help retain some interest in the tournament at least till the semi-Final stage.
But I hope that Australia wins. For then we can claim that it was immaterial whether India went out in the 1st round or not - it was inevitable that Australia would win. The tournament and all its victories and defeats were point less.
to be continued....
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