By 
Cricket as a sport is set to die a natural death very soon. The sport will cease to be an international sport because of the way the sport is run worldwide. Look at the International Cricket Council (ICC) and its new proposed revenue-sharing model for a change. In the coming years, the rich will keep getting richer and those with modest returns will struggle to make ends meet.
This is a shambolic way of handling things at the global level. For a sport which is the second biggest in the globe, the way the game is administered is a big concern.
The problem is the way the ICC board is structured. About 12 years ago, a proposed governance reform was disbanded by the ICC board because of the power of certain full-time members. The ICC is a member organisation, so technically all those of the 12 full-time representatives who sit on the Board of Directors are decision makers. The individual boards cannot wash their hands off ICC decisions by claiming they have no role to play.
Every decision of the ICC is voted upon, discussed, and implemented as per the direction of the Board of Directors. So, everyone is involved and not one person can claim to be the owner of the decision.
The problem is at the ICC Board, no director is thinking about the game at a global level, everyone of them is looking at the sport from their own narrow myopic local view. That is resulting in the game shrinking with every passing day. This is not how the sport at the global level should be run.
Back in 2011, there was a proposal to have a wholly independent board of directors who can look at the sport dispassionately without being concerned about local considerations. That was, however, shot down. Then the whole concept was brought down to just one independent director, Indra Nooyi.
If the game of cricket must survive or has to grow it urgently needs governance reforms at the highest level. It is time to seriously look at bringing a completely independent set of directors to govern the game without the pressure of giving into their country’s interests.
The game is bigger than anyone. The time for everyone to stand up and deliver is now!
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