Your solution to the BCCI - ICL standoff?

[G.I.Joe]

I think it might safely be said that any realistic resolution will not involve complete ICC recognition of the ICL as an official Twenty20 league. The BCCI will not tolerate competition to the IPL, and that is understandable. There can be only one Ranji competition and only one Deodhar competition. There is no argument to support the existence of two competitions to crown the national champions in the third format of the game too.

The best possible solution for the ICL would be for them to accept exhibition match status for their league. However this does not prevent the ICL from continuing to poach players as they currently do, which would not be acceptable to the BCCI, given its interests in the IPL.

Allowing the ICL to function as a second tier system to the IPL also seems a remote possibility considering the fact that the BCCI did not make a single penny off the sale of ICL franchises (if there was any, that is).

What would your solution be? Let's be realistic, not idealistic.

 

[susudear]

Absorb ICL

Absorb ICL into IPL.

Make ICL the tier 2 competition with promotion/relegation.

Allow Zee to telecast ICL live and IPL highlights without extra payment.

BCCI gets control, Zee the content, ICL players legitimacy. IPL more competition.

Everyone happy.

 

[Harry Harrison]

I think it might safely be said that any realistic resolution will not involve complete ICC recognition of the ICL as an official Twenty20 league. The BCCI will not tolerate competition to the IPL, and that is understandable. There can be only one Ranji competition and only one Deodhar competition. There is no argument to support the existence of two competitions to crown the national champions in the third format of the game too.

The best possible solution for the ICL would be for them to accept exhibition match status for their league. However this does not prevent the ICL from continuing to poach players as they currently do, which would not be acceptable to the BCCI, given its interests in the IPL.

Allowing the ICL to function as a second tier system to the IPL also seems a remote possibility considering the fact that the BCCI did not make a single penny off the sale of ICL franchises (if there was any, that is).

What would your solution be? Let's be realistic, not idealistic.

ICC and othe countries should not be exploited by BCCI. Other countries should not suffer just for the benefit of BCCI. I can smell that ICC and other countries will not support BCCI in this matter for too long especially after the current issues of BCCI with its ally PCB. Other countries must supprt their players if they play ICL. It is their profession and they must not be penalised just to make BCCI happy.

 

[Harry Harrison]

Absorb ICL into IPL.

Make ICL the tier 2 competition with promotion/relegation.

Allow Zee to telecast ICL live and IPL highlights without extra payment.

BCCI gets control, Zee the content, ICL players legitimacy. IPL more competition.

Everyone happy.

Very nice story on papers.
Its the hardest job to do in reality. Some people just write for the sake of increasing their number of posts. That's why such suggestions come.

 

[biased indian]

Very nice story on papers.
Its the hardest job to do in reality. Some people just write for the sake of increasing their number of posts. That's why such suggestions come.

 

[Julian87]

Ban India from test cricket until it is resolved. Ban them from call centres while you're at it.

 

[Harry Harrison]

Ban India from test cricket until it is resolved. Ban them from call centres while you're at it.

Its too hard. Just don't ban the players of your countries. Let BCCI do what they want on their own. Every player has the right to earn for himself provided he is available to pay for his country whenever they are needed. We should not put ourself or our players in trouble just for the sake of BCCI's benefit. I tell you guys about PCB . Javed Miandad has become the DG Cricket. Very soon he will lift the ban from players who played ICL. He is courageous and would be the first one to take this just step. We as a nation fully back him.

 

[Arjun]

Frankly, it's time Zee themselves thought about what they were doing. The league itself was launched to start a war with the BCCI, or rather, to get viewership for their own sports channel, which lost telecast rights for matches in India. At a time when the Indian ODI team was in tatters and the Test team not too healthy, they said they'd help Indian cricket by launching the league- and what was it? A T20 league. BCCI hated T20 then, so why start this league? Moreover, while the BCCI ban on the ICL was obvious, rather than work out a solution to get accepted and actually help Indian cricket, they tried to continue the confrontation. The comments of the ICL officials about the failed talks with the BCCI is another

While it's obvious that Subhash Chandra was trying to get more money and attention towards Zee, the involvement of Kapil Dev is a bit surprising. He believes that the ICL will help improve cricket in India at the grass roots. We can't question his commitment to the game at any stage, so if that has to be done, the FC cricket structure needs to be improved, and the List-A limited-overs scene needs a complete remake. The people in charge of ICL can surely use their superior facilities to work on that. If BCCI, Zee, Ten and Nimbus come together to work on a model for Indian domestic cricket, it will be a successful one, and the Ranji/ROD/Deodhar/Duleep events would look a lot better.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Handbags at dawn, ladies.

 

[Craig]

Ban India from test cricket until it is resolved. Ban them from call centres while you're at it.

See that post will go down like a lead ballon.

 

[Richard]

What would your solution be? Let's be realistic, not idealistic.

BCCI gives Zee Test, ODI and IPL rights. That's the only way the ICL is going to go away. That's what Subhash Chandra was aiming for when setting-up the ICL (he didn't care about trying to improve the lives of Indian cricketers, don't let anyone allow you to believe that), same thing Kerry Packer was aiming for with WSC. Soon as Packer got the Test rights he wanted, WSC was no more.

Either that or the BCCI are completely successful in using whatever means to completely disincentivise regular teams from signing ICL players, and so no players sign for the ICL, so the ICL is discontinued voluntarily by Zee, who admit defeat. This wasn't a million miles from happening in the WSC case - the ACB almost defeated Packer, but he was saved by Neville Wran.

Chandra and Zee have deep pockets, though, much deeper than Packer and C9 did in the '70s, and an ICL contract even at the current time is far better than a county contract (and I presume an Indian zonal one), and the ICL's initial season was far, far more succesful than WSC's was. So someone who's established their credentials at county level could easily opt for the ICL over their county. But that'd require an upping of sticks of sorts.

There is no room for the ICL. It has to either stop or be completely and totally ostracised from real cricket, and become an entirely separate entity. The former would be most ideal but as I say, the only way it's likely to happen would be if Zee are given the rights that they wanted. Trouble with that would be that it'd set a dangerous precedent that C9's being given the rights didn't. The number of channels around in 2007 is infinitely larger than in 1977, and if anyone fancied Indian cricket rights, all they'd need to do would be to set-up an ICL.

 

[G.I.Joe]

BCCI gives Zee Test, ODI and IPL rights. That's the only way the ICL is going to go away. That's what Subhash Chandra was aiming for when setting-up the ICL (he didn't care about trying to improve the lives of Indian cricketers, don't let anyone allow you to believe that), same thing Kerry Packer was aiming for with WSC. Soon as Packer got the Test rights he wanted, WSC was no more.

That isn't going to happen though. The IPL rights for the next 10 years (I think) have already been sold. Completely agree that the ICL needs to be squashed completely. I know there are a lot of sympathisers for the ICL in many countries, but they don't realise the necessity of preventing the ICL from becoming a long term success. The only way they'll understand is if private T20 leagues crop up in their countries, weakening their domestic structures. CA and the ECB seem to realise this.

 

[Top_Cat]

M'thinks the market will decide this one.

 

[Uppercut]

Completely agree that the ICL needs to be squashed completely.

That's so ridiculous. I might as well say "i need to learn how to fly". The ICL is here, and here it will remain, so deal.

 

[G.I.Joe]

That's so ridiculous. I might as well say "i need to learn how to fly". The ICL is here, and here it will remain, so deal.

It'll only remain as long as it makes money. And it won't make enough to keep signing up the big names if the second season was any indication.

 

[Uppercut]

It'll only remain as long as it makes money. And it won't make enough to keep signing up the big names if the second season was any indication.

Don't know how you can say that tbh since none of their figures are published.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Don't know how you can say that tbh since none of their figures are published.

Being in the country helps. After the IPL, no one here seems remotely interested in the ICL. Zee haven't thought this through. They're stuck with a second class product and next to no chance of bidding for any Indian cricket telecasts in the future.

 

[Uppercut]

Being in the country helps. After the IPL, no one here seems remotely interested in the ICL. Zee haven't thought this through. They're stuck with a second class product and next to no chance of bidding for any Indian cricket telecasts in the future.

It doesn't make a great deal of difference to the profitability though. Championship football in England is a "second-class product" where players are paid sums of money cricketers can generally only dream about, and it runs perfectly well financially for the most part. What are the actual running costs of the ICL? How many people need to tune into or turn up to games in order to make the business viable? How much profit do those who run the league make from each match? Considering the fact that they control the running of both the sport and the TV company, if it has a reasonable business plan they'll make more than enough to keep it going. Zee, to my knowledge, aren't remotely short on business acumen and if things get unusually rough, they have pockets as deep as anyone. A policy of "the ICL must be destroyed" not only leads to legal difficulties (it already has) but could well be akin to pulling teeth.

Tbh i'm not sure i'd have heard of the ICL if it weren't for the BCCI making such a fuss over it.

 

[GIMH]

Totally agree with your last line, ICL must love the exposure that BCCI's draconian campaign has given them.

 

[G.I.Joe]

It doesn't make a great deal of difference to the profitability though. Championship football in England is a "second-class product" where players are paid sums of money cricketers can generally only dream about, and it runs perfectly well financially for the most part. What are the actual running costs of the ICL? How many people need to tune into or turn up to games in order to make the business viable? How much profit do those who run the league make from each match? Considering the fact that they control the running of both the sport and the TV company, if it has a reasonable business plan they'll make more than enough to keep it going. Zee, to my knowledge, aren't remotely short on business acumen and if things get unusually rough, they have pockets as deep as anyone. A policy of "the ICL must be destroyed" not only leads to legal difficulties (it already has) but could well be akin to pulling teeth.

Tbh i'm not sure i'd have heard of the ICL if it weren't for the BCCI making such a fuss over it.

The last line, and the question of legal hurdles are moot points. Teams can refuse to select ICL players on various grounds (lack of talent/indiscipline/poor form/change of plans etc etc) and the courts can't force their selection. As for the publicity, the ICL isn't making money off you, is it? It was actually more popular in its first year when it had very little negative publicity, and now in its second season, it is clearly not something people are tuning into in large numbers here, despite all the increased publicity. Their cries of victimization aren't helping them one bit in the market they're targetting. Cricket starved Pakistan might be enthralled, but India isn't.

Conceded that they might have deep pockets and be able to keep it running even if no one watches it, and won't be short of cricketers too. The important question is whether it benefits cricket to have multiple ownership of the game in any country. If the ICL gains official recognition, nothing prevents 'x' more private leagues from cropping up in the country. Zee aren't the only media company in India who do not have telecast rights to Indian cricket. Do we extend the same generosity to Ranji cricket or the Sheffield Shield or the County championship? Does the resultant dilution of talent and lack of direction benefit the game?