BCCI unhappy with wording of strategic document

The BCCI top brass on Thursday expressed strong reservations over ICC's Strategic Working Group describing over-dependance on India for revenue generation as a "weakness" and demanded a correction.

BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary and treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhry, in a meeting, expressed their displeasure to the SWG, which in its 'Global Strategy Report' highlighted over-dependance on India apart from lack of enough broadcasters.

"We have categorically told SWG today that we have a serious objection to the wording of the document and they have agreed to it. They have assured that before the final strategy paper is prepared and presented to the board, a course correction will be done," a senior BCCI official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

"Had they just written over-dependance on India, it was fine but what was demeaning was terming it as a weakness. We pointed it out and they agreed. Otherwise, it was a peaceful meeting," the official said.

Interestingly, ICC Chief Executive Dave Richardson said that India's revenue generation is a "strength and not weakness".

"I would rather focus on it as a strength as we need Indian cricket as part of Global strategy. It's a strength that we have such a huge cricket economy behind us. So it's not a weakness from ICC's point of view. It's just a reminder to other countries that they cannot rely on India alone," the former Proteas wicketkeeper said after the meeting.

On the advent of the T10 league, "The way we look at it is that we have three formats of the game and that's what members want to stick to. Historically there have been experiments at the domestic level (ECB's 100-ball and Emirates Cricket Board's T10) and we cannot stop that."

On the threat of rebel body or unsanctioned global leagues, Richardson said: "It's quite historical. Whenever you do a strategy report, you do a SWOT analysis. It really takes it out of context. Weaknesses and threats might exist. Sometimes they are a real big risk and sometimes it's by the way. It's by the way."

"Today’s meeting with the BCCI and CoA was a planned part of that process and the BCCI was the first Member board we have individually engaged and consulted with which was appreciated by the BCCI. I would like to thank everyone involved for their positive commitment to the strategy, their time and energy today and their feedback which will now be incorporated into the ongoing development work," Richardson said.