Loud Thinking

Archive for January, 2014

“If we counted our blessings instead of our money, we would all be rich.”

— Linda Poindexter

Class-And-Grace is acting with elegance in one’s behavior, manner or action.

“True eloquence consists of saying all that is needed and only what is needed.”

François Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680);
writer, moralist

Is this the moment of the break-up of the ICC..?

ICC (Indian Cricket Council) is now being turned into INTERNATIONAL CASH COUNCIL for BCCI, CA & the ECB on the lines of the UN Security Council, under which all the remaining cricket playing countries will be OUT CAST.

This will be the the worst form of the apartheid in sports world, being planned by the BCCI, CA and the ECB, just for the sake of their avarice.

If the BCCI, CA and the ECB do not want the 7 remaining ICC board members as equal partners, it will be better for the remaining 7 members of the ICC, to form their own ICC (International Cricket Committee) in consultation and cooperation with the FICA. This new ICC should grant official status to all members for playing Test matches (day and night with 100 overs per innings limit, ODI’s of 40 overs with two innings of 20 overs and T10 revolutionary games. This new ICC should also introduce highly popular Tennis ball (taped) matches all over the world.

ICC (Indian Cricket Council) is now being turned into INTERNATIONAL CASH COUNCIL for BCCI, CA & the ECB on the lines of the UN Security Council, under which all the remaining cricket playing countries will be OUT CAST. This will be the the worst form of the apartheid in sports world, being planned by the BCCI, CA and the ECB, just for the sake of their avarice.

If the BCCI, CA and the ECB do not want the 7 remaining ICC board members as equal partners, it will be better for the remaining 7 members of the ICC, to form their own ICC (International Cricket Committee) in consultation and cooperation with the FICA. This new ICC should grant official status to all members for playing Test matches (day and night with 100 overs per innings limit, ODI’s of 40 overs with two innings of 20 overs and T10 revolutionary games. This new ICC should also introduce highly popular Tennis ball (taped) matches all over the world.

Cry of Cricket Australia..!

Edwards responds to ‘Big Three’ criticism
Daniel Brettig and Brydon Coverdale
January 22, 2014

Cricket Australia’s chairman Wally Edwards, seen here with the ECB chairman Giles Clarke, has been a key figure in the proposal to be voted on by the ICC © Getty Images
Enlarge
Related Links
News : BCCI working committee to discuss ICC draft
News : Draft proposal could hit a snag
News : Boards silent on ICC revamp consequences
News : CSA demands ICC proposals withdrawn
News : NZC not worried over power takeover – Snedden
News : Big Three could control revamped ICC
Audio/Video: ‘Dice heavily loaded in favour of big three’
Players/Officials: Paul Marsh
Sites: Cricinfo ICC Site
Wally Edwards, the Cricket Australia chairman and a key figure in the drafting of a proposal to centralise power in world cricket with India and England, has broken his usual silence to defend the plan in the face of heavy criticism from the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA).

Through FICA’s chairman Paul Marsh, the world’s cricketers have voiced their strong opposition to the proposed revamp of the ICC’s structure, declaring that it would only serve to strengthen India, England and Australia while weakening the rest.

Commonly preferring to work the back channels of cricket administration before speaking publicly, Edwards said he felt compelled to respond to FICA’s contention that the nations involved in drafting the proposal had defied their commitment to work in the best interests of the ICC by doing so.

“Traditionally, CA does not comment on ICC discussions it is about to have – we talk to other ICC nations across the table rather than via the media,” Edwards said. “But we were today disappointed to see the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations question whether CA and others have met their fiduciary duties as ICC members.

“Setting aside the fact that we are yet to discuss and vote, CA’s approach internationally is consistent with its approach at home where we have made significant strides improving the governance of Australian cricket. There will be a discussion in the next few days among the ICC’s full member nations about possible changes to how the ICC works.

“CA’s view going into that discussion is that we need to continue to promote international cricket competitions including the primacy of Test cricket, we need to improve global cricket leadership and we support that members should be working to promote the interest of the game as their priority.”

Edwards is the first chairman of the three nations tabling the proposal to speak publicly about it. Neither N Srinivasan of the BCCI nor Giles Clarke of the ECB have been prepared to talk about the proposal or its implications, preferring to wait until the raft of changes are voted on by the ICC executive board at their next meeting on January 28 and 29.

FICA, which represents player associations in seven of the ICC’s ten full member countries, had declared itself “extremely concerned” with the leaked proposal, which would place the ICC largely in the control of the so-called “Big Three” nations. Marsh said players had a real fear the proposal would leave countries outside the Big Three to “wither on the vine”.

“There are a myriad of issues with this proposal,” Marsh said. “First and foremost, as board directors of the ICC, the Chairmen of the BCCI, Cricket Australia and ECB owe fiduciary duties to the ICC that include putting the interests of the ICC ahead of those of their individual boards, a duty to remain loyal to the ICC and avoid conflicts of interests and to act in good faith to promote the success of the ICC. We seriously question whether all of these duties have been met.

“The proposals relating to scheduling are disturbing. The reassurance to the boards outside the ‘Big Three’ that they are guaranteed to earn more in the next rights cycle than they have in the current one ignores the fact they are almost certain to lose more money from a re-shaped Future Tours Programme (FTP) than they will gain from ICC distributions, when the ‘Big Three’ inevitably pick and choose who, when and where they will play.

“Of significance is the section that offers a guarantee from Cricket Australia and the ECB to play three Tests and five ODIs per cycle to each of the top eight members, yet there is no mention of any such guarantee from the BCCI. Each of the member countries, including Australia and England, rely heavily on Indian tours for sustainability of the game in their country. What chance do the majority of members have of survival if the BCCI decides not to tour their countries on at least a semi-regular basis?

“The result of this is that the gap between the ‘Big Three’ and the rest will get bigger and bigger, which will undermine the competitiveness of future ICC events and therefore the value of rights in future cycles. This will affect everyone and it cannot possibly be in the interests of international cricket nor of the health and sustainability of the world game of which the ICC is supposed to be the custodian.”

Boards of ICC members outside the Big Three have expressed differing views on the proposal, with Cricket South Africa arguing the idea is “fundamentally flawed” and “in breach of the ICC constitution”, while New Zealand Cricket said it was wrong to jump to the conclusion that the proposal would be bad for cricket. However, FICA has raised concerns about the potential increased financial strain that could affect countries already struggling to make money from the game.

“We also have significant concern with the notion that distributions from ICC events should be based on commercial contribution,” Marsh said. “The result of this will be the countries that need ICC income most will receive the least, whilst the ‘Big Three’ will get the lion’s share even though they are already financially healthy because of the value of the rights to their bilateral series.

“The role of ICC events should be to assist in levelling the financial playing field by distributing the proceeds from these events fairly, rather than further widening the gap between the rich and poor. Whilst these are an entirely foreseeable commercial outcomes, for the cricket fan the greater concern is the increasing gulf in quality between the ‘Big Three’ and the rest. The essence of sport is competition and those in control of the ICC should be doing all they can to promote and provide a level playing field. This proposal will achieve the complete opposite.

“Ironically the proposal espouses the principal of meritocracy. The linking of immunity from Test relegation for BCCI, ECB and CA to an argument that this is necessary ‘solely to protect ICC income’ is plainly wrong, given the fact no Test-based ICC events feature in the forward thinking and therefore all revenues generated from Test cricket are kept by the boards hosting the respective series.”

Daniel Brettig and Brydon Coverdale are assistant editors at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Daniel Brettig
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

“Your rough beginning equipped you to walk uphill without breaking a sweat. Compared to your past trials this is nothing.”

— Thema Davis

Smile is a pleasant facial expression, usually indicating amusement, friendliness, etc..

ICC the (Indian Cricket Council) is now being turned into International CASH Council for BCCI, CA & ECB on the lines of UN Security Council.

The remaining 7 members of the ICC should form their own ICC (International Cricket Committee).

Cry of Cricket Australia..!

Edwards responds to ‘Big Three’ criticism
Daniel Brettig and Brydon Coverdale
January 22, 2014

Cricket Australia’s chairman Wally Edwards, seen here with the ECB chairman Giles Clarke, has been a key figure in the proposal to be voted on by the ICC © Getty Images
Enlarge
Related Links
News : BCCI working committee to discuss ICC draft
News : Draft proposal could hit a snag
News : Boards silent on ICC revamp consequences
News : CSA demands ICC proposals withdrawn
News : NZC not worried over power takeover – Snedden
News : Big Three could control revamped ICC
Audio/Video: ‘Dice heavily loaded in favour of big three’
Players/Officials: Paul Marsh
Sites: Cricinfo ICC Site
Wally Edwards, the Cricket Australia chairman and a key figure in the drafting of a proposal to centralise power in world cricket with India and England, has broken his usual silence to defend the plan in the face of heavy criticism from the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA).

Through FICA’s chairman Paul Marsh, the world’s cricketers have voiced their strong opposition to the proposed revamp of the ICC’s structure, declaring that it would only serve to strengthen India, England and Australia while weakening the rest.

Commonly preferring to work the back channels of cricket administration before speaking publicly, Edwards said he felt compelled to respond to FICA’s contention that the nations involved in drafting the proposal had defied their commitment to work in the best interests of the ICC by doing so.

“Traditionally, CA does not comment on ICC discussions it is about to have – we talk to other ICC nations across the table rather than via the media,” Edwards said. “But we were today disappointed to see the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations question whether CA and others have met their fiduciary duties as ICC members.

“Setting aside the fact that we are yet to discuss and vote, CA’s approach internationally is consistent with its approach at home where we have made significant strides improving the governance of Australian cricket. There will be a discussion in the next few days among the ICC’s full member nations about possible changes to how the ICC works.

“CA’s view going into that discussion is that we need to continue to promote international cricket competitions including the primacy of Test cricket, we need to improve global cricket leadership and we support that members should be working to promote the interest of the game as their priority.”

Edwards is the first chairman of the three nations tabling the proposal to speak publicly about it. Neither N Srinivasan of the BCCI nor Giles Clarke of the ECB have been prepared to talk about the proposal or its implications, preferring to wait until the raft of changes are voted on by the ICC executive board at their next meeting on January 28 and 29.

FICA, which represents player associations in seven of the ICC’s ten full member countries, had declared itself “extremely concerned” with the leaked proposal, which would place the ICC largely in the control of the so-called “Big Three” nations. Marsh said players had a real fear the proposal would leave countries outside the Big Three to “wither on the vine”.

“There are a myriad of issues with this proposal,” Marsh said. “First and foremost, as board directors of the ICC, the Chairmen of the BCCI, Cricket Australia and ECB owe fiduciary duties to the ICC that include putting the interests of the ICC ahead of those of their individual boards, a duty to remain loyal to the ICC and avoid conflicts of interests and to act in good faith to promote the success of the ICC. We seriously question whether all of these duties have been met.

“The proposals relating to scheduling are disturbing. The reassurance to the boards outside the ‘Big Three’ that they are guaranteed to earn more in the next rights cycle than they have in the current one ignores the fact they are almost certain to lose more money from a re-shaped Future Tours Programme (FTP) than they will gain from ICC distributions, when the ‘Big Three’ inevitably pick and choose who, when and where they will play.

“Of significance is the section that offers a guarantee from Cricket Australia and the ECB to play three Tests and five ODIs per cycle to each of the top eight members, yet there is no mention of any such guarantee from the BCCI. Each of the member countries, including Australia and England, rely heavily on Indian tours for sustainability of the game in their country. What chance do the majority of members have of survival if the BCCI decides not to tour their countries on at least a semi-regular basis?

“The result of this is that the gap between the ‘Big Three’ and the rest will get bigger and bigger, which will undermine the competitiveness of future ICC events and therefore the value of rights in future cycles. This will affect everyone and it cannot possibly be in the interests of international cricket nor of the health and sustainability of the world game of which the ICC is supposed to be the custodian.”

Boards of ICC members outside the Big Three have expressed differing views on the proposal, with Cricket South Africa arguing the idea is “fundamentally flawed” and “in breach of the ICC constitution”, while New Zealand Cricket said it was wrong to jump to the conclusion that the proposal would be bad for cricket. However, FICA has raised concerns about the potential increased financial strain that could affect countries already struggling to make money from the game.

“We also have significant concern with the notion that distributions from ICC events should be based on commercial contribution,” Marsh said. “The result of this will be the countries that need ICC income most will receive the least, whilst the ‘Big Three’ will get the lion’s share even though they are already financially healthy because of the value of the rights to their bilateral series.

“The role of ICC events should be to assist in levelling the financial playing field by distributing the proceeds from these events fairly, rather than further widening the gap between the rich and poor. Whilst these are an entirely foreseeable commercial outcomes, for the cricket fan the greater concern is the increasing gulf in quality between the ‘Big Three’ and the rest. The essence of sport is competition and those in control of the ICC should be doing all they can to promote and provide a level playing field. This proposal will achieve the complete opposite.

“Ironically the proposal espouses the principal of meritocracy. The linking of immunity from Test relegation for BCCI, ECB and CA to an argument that this is necessary ‘solely to protect ICC income’ is plainly wrong, given the fact no Test-based ICC events feature in the forward thinking and therefore all revenues generated from Test cricket are kept by the boards hosting the respective series.”

Daniel Brettig and Brydon Coverdale are assistant editors at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Daniel Brettig
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

I Love You Sweetheart!

There was a group of women gathered at a seminar on how to live in a loving relationship with your husband.

The women were asked, ‘How many of you love your husbands?’

All the women raised their hands.

Then they were asked, ‘When was the last time you told your husband you loved him?’

Some women answered today, some yesterday, some didn’t remember..

The women were then told to take their cell phones and send the following text to their respective husband: I love you, sweetheart.

Then the women were told to exchange phones and read the responding text messages.

Here are some of the replies:

1. Eh, mother of my children, are you sick?

2. What now? Did you crash the car again?

3. I don’t understand what you mean?

4. What did you do now? I won’t forgive you this time!!!

5. ?!?

6. Don’t beat about the bush, just tell me how much you need?

7. Am I dreaming? ???????

8. If you don’t tell me who this message is actually for, you will die today…!!!

and the best one

9. Who is this?

A comprehensive plan to win the ICC ODI World Cup 2015.

Pakistan cricket team always had the potential and talent to win any and all of the past cricket ODI world cup tournaments. As such, there should be no doubt about its chances of winning the next cricket ODI world CUP scheduled in 2015, to be played in the down under.

In this regard, PCB must prepare a plan named ”Vision 2015″. This plan should be a fool proof strategy with specific focus on winning the 2015 tournament, considering all risk factors, like sudden unavailability of any player due to various reasons, at least five umpiring decisions going against us (two in batting & three in bowling innings), dropped catches/missed run outs and failure of main bowlers and batsmen etc. We should remember that plans never fail, we fail to plan. Moreover, the PCB “Vision 2015″ must state that “You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.”

The broad outlines of the “Vision 2015″ are defined as below.

1. A visionary person of a ultra high calibre, should be appointed the coach of Pakistan cricket team. We should also set a new trend and hire a full time mentor, for which I recommend Sir Alexander Chapman “Alex” Ferguson, CBE who is a former Scottish football manager and player who managedManchester United from 1986 to 2013. His time at the club has led to Ferguson being regarded as one of the most successful, admired and respected managers in the history of the game. PCB must ensure that in the hiring of Sir Alex Ferguson, money should not be a barrier, notwithstanding any amount demanded by him. PCB should consider this expense as an investment in 24K gold. The mentor should be specifically responsible for making our players mentally the strongest in the world, along with his other defined duties.

2. A young person should be appointed captain to lead the team for the next 5-7 years.

3. All cricket playing centers of PCB in Pakistan, should remodel the boundary distances to 90 meters (matching the size of Australian grounds) and batsmen should practise taking 5 runs, in case, ball is fielded before it reaches the rope.

4. Any player who is not of age and fitness to serve the country for next 5 years, should be discarded now, for ODI and T20 games.

5. A world class fielding coach of the calibre of Jonty Rhodes, be appointed for the team, alongwith the head coach.

6. We must find more than five bowlers from the tribal belt or any rugged area of the country, who should be able to bowl at 100 MPH speed. To attract the country talent of fast bowling, a handsome prize should be annouced, as an incentive for this speed bowling.

7. Cricket academy at PCB HQ Lahore, must be headed by a world renowned batsman.

8. The team of selectors should be tasked to locate 50 talented players, with potential to deliver at international level.

9. PCB should take on the challenge of round the year cricket (in summers, games starting at 5 PM) playing arrangements of local and foreign teams in Pakistan. And in summer 2011, PCB should pioneer night Test/ODI/T20 matches in Pakistan.

10. All PCB grounds in the country (even in smaller cities/towns), should be provided with lights for night games.

11. In order to prepare fast and bouncy tracks on all PCB grounds, suitable soil and if possible prefabricated pitches may be imported from abroad.