Kolkata: The main agenda on day 1 of the International Cricket Council’s five-day meeting in Kolkata was the absence of a Players’ Association in India and Pakistan which is a big concern for ICC.
As we know formation of the Players’ Association is one of the major recommendations made by the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee as their idea is to give the cricketers “a voice to raise their concerns” while barring them from forming a “trade union of any sort.”
“Unfortunately India and Pakistan do not have a functioning players association. It’s definitely a big concern. The Lodha Commission has already said about forming an association.
“We will speak to them when they form an association. It’s up to the players in India,” a top official of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations told the media after their meeting at a city-based five-star hotel.
“India is definitely a dominant force in cricket, as a result of number of people following the sport. It’s commercially extremely followed. ICC consists of the 12 full member countries. India really dominate the decision making in ICC.”
That the Indian cricketers enjoy a lot of stardom and are powerful enough to bargain with BCCI on their own is one of the reasons cited for the delay in forming a player’s body.
Clarifying that they do not work as agents, he said: “We are involved in the collective not the individual cricketers’ right. We are not individual agents.”
The first day’s meeting also had women’s cricket committee meeting and women’s cricket forum in two sessions in the morning and afternoon.
The morning session was attended by India captain Mithali Raj as a special invitee and she was asked whether she had encountered any match fixing issues and she said “no”.
“She was here briefly during the meeting. She was asked whether she has encountered any instances of match fixing. She said she hasn’t till date,” an ICC official said.