October 04 Friday 2002
ICC's relations sour with players union

SYDNEY: The International Cricket Council show a lack of respect for international cricketers, Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA) Chief Executive Tim May said on Thursday.

May said the ICC's lack of respect came over their refusal to accept greater player representation within the organisation. Cricket's world governing body on Tuesday rejected moves to recognise a players' association, raising fears of a prolonged battle to settle contracts ahead of next year's World Cup in South Africa.

May said the decision would only inflame the ICC's testy relationship with players. "The ICC have again demonstrated a complete lack of respect for international players and their interests, and as a result the FICA will be proposing a course of action for players to approve in order to address this matter," May said. "The ICC have refused the players' demand that they be able to provide direct input into discussions regarding matters of paramount concern to the players, such as legal issues, privacy issues and matters of safety."

ICC President Malcolm Gray told reporters in Colombo that five of the 10 Test-playing nations were not in favour of a players' association. He declined to name the five countries, but ICC sources said India, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and the West Indies were against recognising a players' body.

Players from these five countries do not have their own association, thereby making them ineligible to join the FICA.

The ICC have appointed a five-member committee to resolve all concerns. The committee will include Gray, ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed, Vice-president Ehsan Mani and the heads of the Australian and Indian boards, Bob Merriman and Jagmohan Dalmiya, respectively.

Relations between the ICC and the players were inflamed before last month's ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka over a sponsorship wrangle. The ICC avoided a boycott of some of the world's best players when they agreed to relax some sponsorship conflicts between players and the ICC's commercial partner Global Cricket Corporation.

Similar problems are expected to arise before the World Cup begins in early February. "The ICC position is clear to all, they simply wish to retain an unhealthy and inequitable amount of power and continue to ignore the representations of those who will be directly affected by those decisions," May said.