Boards must recognize
FICA first: ICC

The International Cricket Council says that countries have to have player associations that are officially recognized by their respective boards before the ICC can deal with them and a representative body such as the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association.

Earlier this month, the ICC had refused to recognize the FICA in its executive committee meeting held in Colombo on October 1.

ICC president Malcolm Gray said, "It would be simpler for the ICC to deal with one body that represented the players, but the reality is five countries regard the issue of dealing with commercial and management matters as the exclusive right of the home board and that the ICC should not have a direct role with the players in this area."

Chief executive of the Australian Cricketers' Association and joint CEO of FICA Tim May rubbished the decision saying that it is just another excuse by the ICC to decelerate the progressive reforms.

"They know that we have the support of the players; 98 per cent of the players want FICA to negotiate all global issues with the ICC. They have asked the ICC to recognize FICA," he said.

According to May, 140 players from various countries attended the meeting in Colombo, which was a great boost for the association.

May pointed out that FICA represented seven player associations and with India coming on board as the eighth member, the player's associations would gain more importance in world cricket.

The ICC has maintained that they do not deal directly with the players. "It is the duty of the boards to talk to the players," said Gray at a press conference in Colombo.

May argued that if the ICC does not deal directly with the players, then how can it make decisions that directly affect the players?

At the ICC committee meeting, the panel did not adopt the proposal to expand the Cricket Committee - Management (CC-M) to allow for a representative nominated directly by the players to sit on the committee.

The CC-M is the committee made up of the chief executives from all Test-playing nations and deals with the commercial and management issues surrounding the game.

According to the ICC, five boards were strong in their belief that these issues are matters of sovereign rights for the boards and were therefore most appropriately addressed through the relationship between the respective board and their players.

The executive board considered the issue of player representation on ICC committees and adopted the recommendation to restructure the Cricket Committee - Playing (CC-P) to allow for the direct election from the players of five members of the ten full member representatives on this committee.

CC-P is responsible for issues related to the playing of the game including Playing Conditions, Code of Conduct and the Laws of the Game.

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar continued as chairman of CC-P while the committee would have five members drawn from boards and five members elected by the captains of the Test playing teams.

"The ICC has allowed captains to chose players on the CC-P but on the CC-M, which can change the player’s lives, there is no representation for them. We are still stuck where we were 20-30 years ago. Players now want their say," argued May.

The ICC, however, seems to take refuge in the fact that despite a majority of the ICC board were in favour of player representation at management level, five countries (Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, and South Africa) opposed the proposal.

"It must be recognised that cultural and industrial relations environments in all countries vary greatly among the ICC members." Gray said.

"The FICA needs to stop putting the cart before the horse," said Gray.

"I was not born yesterday," said May. "The ICC cannot keep passing the buck to the boards and then make important decisions that affect the players on its own," he warned.

"The ICC and the Global Cricket Corporation take the players for granted. The ICC is not looking to maximize the standard of cricket just the money that comes in," he added.

The ICC believes that if player representation is to take place at the international level, it is up to the players in these countries to convince their boards of the value of having this type of a system.

"There is little point in getting upset or angry," said Gray.

Tim May also said that the Indian players are keen on having their own players’ association and one of FICA’s main objectives was to help players set up their associations.

"The Indian players have a poor relation with their cricket board (BCCI). As the main revenue drivers of the sport in the country it is time they get the respect they deserve," he added.

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