International Cricket Council’s (ICC) chief executive David Richardson believes that the Decision Review System (DRS), despite its inaccuracies, is a “worthwhile asset” for cricket. Richardson, who was here today to announce ICC’s four-year tie-up with MRF, one of the leading tyre manufacturers in India, spoke on DRS; inclusion of cricket in the Olympics; the Chris Gayle controversy among other things.
Excerpts:-
On DRS: I don’t think we'll ever get to a stage where we are 100% sure that we get accurate decisions in each and every game. If we can achieve 98% it is better than 93%. You may not have a life boat but if you have a life vest, it is better than having no vest at all.
Whether we can persuade India that it’s a worthwhile asset to the game, I can’t be sure. But certainly, we would like if DRS is to be used in the future, it would be uniform wherever it is used.
On cricket becoming a batsman’s game: The MCC have taken it upon themselves to look into the dimensions of the cricket bat. The ICC has also asked the MCC to look at the specifications of the cricket ball.
If you try to address the balance between bat and ball, there are three areas that you can look at. Number one is the bat. Number two is the ball - you can create a bigger seam that will help the seamers and spinners. The third aspect is the pitches. We have a pitch monitoring process in place which monitors the pitches used in international cricket, Test cricket especially. The plan is to have pitches that are conducive to both bat and ball.
The sight of a fast bowler bowling and the batsman having to duck or playing a pull or a hook shot is something that we cannot lose. Apart from the skills that are needed to bowl fast, we must also have pitches that support fast bowling. A good pitch with good pace promotes attractive stroke play and assists pace bowlers.
On cricket in Olympics: The ICC management met with the IOC last November to discuss the possibilities for cricket to participate in the Olympics. We have to report back to our board in the upcoming meetings in February on the outcomes of the meeting (with IOC).
But there are pros and cons about it. One of the biggest pros is it will help grow cricket in non-traditional cricket markets like the USA and China.
However, cricket in all parts of the world depends on the revenue generated by the ICC events. Before we go rushing into participation in Olympics we need to be certain it doesn’t devalue the current ICC events, particularly the World T20.
It’s not easy to get into the Olympics. There are limits to the number of athletes that they can accommodate in the Games. Hopefully by the middle of this year, we will arrive at a decision in that regard.
On the legal scrutiny of BCCI: I think that any improvement in the governance of any of our member countries is welcome.
Our new Chairman Manohar is a principled man and (makes sure) there should be no conflict of interest when it comes to the governance of the game and I think he is keen that ICC should also look at those aspects of governance.
On the >Chris Gayle incident : We certainly would like to treat all players in cricket - male and female - with equal respect. I think cricket can move on quickly from the Chris Gayle incident. I don’t think we need to dwell on it.
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