Now, Come On!

Writes Paul Lewis,

Quite so – so why not produce some green-tops and have their batsmen wondering about things other than how many centuries they will score and whether it will be Goanese fish curry for lunch?

The answer, of course, is money. New Zealand Cricket, like every other cricket board in the world, is terrified of India because they are the new powerbrokers; the Keepers Of The Cash.

Their money has cascaded through the game like acid rain, eroding the old order.

Cricket boards and players alike have been seduced by the bounty.

If we’d offended them by producing a green-top and running through them like a prune and licorice vindaloo, well, India might not return and might use their power to squeeze New Zealand out of lucrative events and tours.[link]

I despise much of what BCCI does. They are frequently liable to behave like a bunch of thugs punch drunk on power and money–witness their bullying of ICL affiliated players commentating on the New Zealand series.

But even then, this goes a little too far. I don’t think BCCI has reached the stage where it  can dictate pitches on tours. I mean, what next? India did not fold up on the fourth  day because Lalit Modi called NZ IPL players and told them he will throw them out of the cash-rich tournament if they dared to bowl well.

The real reason why NZC is preparing the pitches it is (indeed, most boards in the world), is because they make more money if matches last the whole distance. Quite simply, a five day test match yields far more revenues–from gate collections to television rights–than a three day match on a greentop. The Indian series is obviously lucrative–the NZC board expects to make nearly NZ$25 million from it–and it wants to milk it for it all it can. India can afford to ignore such concerns–even here, we are hardly preparing the kind of dust-bowls common in the early 1990s–because for the Indian board, test match earnings are loose change they would probably not even notice if they popped out of Lalit Modi’s pockets.

Silly to blame BCCI for that! And really, in Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, India has probably one of the world’s best new ball attacks. Hard to imagine they would be cowering in their boots if they had to play on a greentop. Perhaps, that is another significant reason why it is not easy to frighten India these days by preparing bouncy pitches: The Indian cricket team is simply more skillful and better balanced than a lot of teams which have toured before.

And finally, if the Indian board was as powerful as Lewis claims, they would never tour–after all, the tv rights as well as gate collections are owned by the home board. Arguably, the Indian board makes very little money when they tour. And boy, does the BCCI love money! Hell, if BCCI had its way completely, both one day as well test cricket would be disbanded and we would play five IPL tournament a year or maybe more depending upon Lalit Modi’s moods.

p.s On another note, Sachin Tendulkar is quite close to his imperious best in New Zealand. He may have been around since Dinosaurs roamed the streets and might have scored like 5 million runs, but for an Indian cricket fan, there is little which gives as much pleasure as watching Tendulkar in full flow. He is special.