Pawar & Morgan Make Arrangement Of Convenience

The dreaded coin toss will not prevail and order has been restored to the lofty corridors of the International Cricket Council. Or has it?

The "deal" agreed to by Sharad Pawar and David Morgan dictates that the latter will assume the role of President from 2008, and the former will take the reigns from 2010 - both for a period of two years. That is all fine and dandy. Suspicion is aroused, however, when one delves deeper into the significance of the timing.

Who Are They?

David Morgan headed the ECB at a time when the organisation was fully professional and competent, operationally anyway. A few minor changes were the order of the day, as opposed to rocket science, in order to marginally improve performance. When leadership was required of Morgan, on the issue of Zimbabwe, history is witness to his lack of substance.

Contrast this to the BCCI that Sharad Pawar took over. The Board needed wholesale changes to become more accountable and professional. It is a badly kept secret that "reform" does not rate a mention in the to-do list of BCCI officials, ensuring that the BCCI has merely been transformed from Jagmohan Dalmiya's private fiefdom to Sharad Pawar's.

What Can We Expect?

One man has failed miserably the one time he had an opportunity to prove himself. The other has failed miserably, full stop. This context beggars the conclusion that both men bring nothing to the table of ICC President, other than having previously held a similar title. It is quite obvious that they do not have the slightest inclination, probably for want of appropriate talent and/or skill, of how to find effective solutions for difficult problems.

Even the brightest optimist would baulk at the chance of putting a positive spin on the benefits to the ICC of these men becoming its President. The short answer to the question above is that the ICC Presidents until 2012, along with the highly capable Malcolm Speed, will ensure that this most esteemed of sporting authorities remains firmly entrenched as the number one example of how not to operate a sporting organisation.

Why the Suspicion?

Now that it is clear that both gentlemen will likely do absolutely nothing about improving the image of the ICC, lets consider what's in it for both at an individual level.

David Morgan: He has not given us a clue as to how he proposes to improve the functioning of the ICC, nor how he wishes to advance the interests of the game. Therefore, one can only assume that it is simply another title that wants for his Resume to make himself feel important. When his grandchildren ask him what he did for the world, he will be able to tell them that the game of cricket as they know it came about thanks to his "work".

Sharad Pawar: As a politician, his job is to spin sh*t talk for a living, and this man (actually someone from his camp) has actually told us something. Apparently, the organising committee for the 2011 World Cup will ask the ICC for funds to rehabilitate their stadia.

It seems rather convenient that Pawar will become President just as those funds will need to be granted by the ICC.

Join the dots folks and the crystal ball will show that this is not just a tale of two old men agreeing to agree for the betterment of the sport we hold dear to our hearts. Watch this space, I say.