Updated by admin on
Thursday, June 26, 2014 03:23 PM IST
Melbourne:
Following is the transcript of N Srinivasan's press conference in Melbourne on June 26, 2014, after his appointment as ICC Chairman:
DAVID RICHARDSON: Welcome to the ICC's Annual Conference, which is being held, remarkably, for the first time in the ICC's 105‑year history, in Australia at the MCG. Today the full council of the ICC approved the full changes to the ICC constitution, which allowed for N. Srinivasan, sitting beside me today, to become the first ICC Chairman. They also confirmed the appointment of Mr. Mustafa Kamal as the ICC President for the next 12 months.
I would like to pay tribute to Alan Isaac, the outgoing president of ICC, who has finished his two‑year term as President. Mr. Isaac worked with great integrity for the good of world cricket. We all thank him for his hard work in a challenging role and wish him all the best for the future.
I know that anyone who knows Mr. N. Srinivasan will recognize his passion for cricket and also his tireless service to the game. He has served as the President of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association since 2001. He's also been the Honorary Treasurer of the BCCI from 2005 to 2008, and the Honorary Secretary of the BCCI from 2008 until 2011, upon which he became the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. I'm certainly looking forward to working with him in the new ICC environment, which will bring, I think, greater financial rewards to all members and certainly more robust governance structures.
Mr. Srinivasan?
N. SRINIVASAN: Thank you, David, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, it's a great honour for me to have been elected as the first Chairman of the ICC, at a time when the ICC also has restructured itself to become more viable and offer better financial stability to Full Members as well as Associates, concentrate on meritocracy, afford Associate Members a chance to start playing Test cricket with Full Members, and also to emphasize development of cricket among the Associates and Affiliates. And also this new structure provides a fund for supporting Test cricket, and it also has a guaranteed FTP, which will ensure better quality cricket, competitive cricket, and offer all Members a chance to play everybody else.
I look forward to this assignment. I think there may be other challenges, but this is -- I think we will witness a period when overall, all aspects of cricket will improve. I'm very happy to take any questions.
Q. When you look at the events of today, when do you think the process to get to here really started? How far back in your mind?
N. SRINIVASAN: I never thought of becoming the Chairman, actually. It started out with -- we had a working group to start looking at the next rights cycle of the ICC from 2015 to 2023, and we started to look at what kind of models, financial models, we should be having, and from there we went to say, why only look at a financial model; is ICC in its present form all right? Should we have a slightly different governance model? Should we not give a better opportunity for the Associates and Affiliates?
So this is how the whole concept discussions widened, and at the end of the day we said that one should take responsibility for leadership in cricket, and that is England, Australia, ourselves and others. So it's evolved over ‑‑ I think we discussed this for at least a year, and it is over that period that this evolved. It was not that we started out with this. We landed with this, ended up with this.
Q. Can you explain, it's well-known that you've been stood down as BCCI President by the Supreme Court for the duration of that investigation. Can you explain why you're an appropriate pick and proper person to run world cricket given your involvement in that investigation?
N. SRINIVASAN: Actually the Court did not ask me ‑‑ I stepped aside voluntarily. I do not know if you have followed the reporting of that. The Committee made a report which did not involve me, but they had given a sealed envelope in which they said there were some unsubstantiated, unverified allegations made by some people, which the Court is looking into. I said I'll voluntarily step aside during that period. Now, as far as I'm concerned, I have done nothing wrong. There is no wrongdoing on my part, and therefore my conscience is very clear that there is no taint on me, and whatever investigation is there will take its course will come out, reports will come out. But unless I have in my mind any doubt or if I have done anything, then what you say possibly is -- then one has to think. But for what I have not done, I have no concern.
Q. When you say there is no taint on me, does that include your son-in-law?
N. SRINIVASAN: My son‑in‑law, there are some charges against him. He has to defend himself in court. I mean, it's a question of it's going to be proved or not proved, but that's up to him. This is a question ‑‑ this is a question about me.
Q. But it reflects on you. It's your team.
N. SRINIVASAN: I think you have to wait until the final -- until everything is clear at the end of the day. If nothing is proved, I think all this comment would have been unfair, isn't it.
Q. Having a problem with corruption in cricket, how do you prepare to combat it?
N. SRINIVASAN: The ICC has been taking very strong steps. They have an Anti‑Corruption and Security Unit which has done extremely good work. They don't publicise what they do, but I think ‑‑ and I'll ask David to say a few words on it because it works directly under him and I'm stepping up to the plate now, but I'd really like you to say a few words on it because I think they've done extensive work. But cricket has been played worldwide in a number of geographies, a number of jurisdictions, and it's being played simultaneously in many of these places, so it's an arduous task, and I think they're doing quite well.
DAVID RICHARDSON: Maybe I can actually help answer that, and certainly they will be my views. The ACSU was formed a couple of years back under Lord Paul Condon. Initially the strategy was all about education, prevention, disruption, and that strategy has been arguably very successful. In recent times the ACSU unit have become more determined to become more proactive on the investigation side, to engage more with law enforcement agencies to become more effective on the investigation side, and a number of investigations have been concluded over the last two or three years and have come to fruition.
Having said that, though, the strategy does remain education, prevention, disruption of match fixing or attempts to match fix and spot fix by a large number of bookies that travel the world trying to corrupt players.
Probably, if you look at the state of things today, you can count on one hand, less than one hand, the number of ongoing investigations, and even with that small number, it's doubtful whether more than one or two will actually result in charges being laid. And to me that is reflective of the current state of corruption.
Yes, of course it's a threat. As I said, we've got these unscrupulous individuals traveling around the world pitching up wherever cricket is played, and we've got to make sure that we disrupt all the efforts to engage with players or umpires or groundsmen, whoever. But the overwhelming majority of cricket played is clean, and the cricketers that are playing it are clean, and that's not just sitting back and observing things from afar. I've been involved in cricket as a player for 20 years, then as an administrator I've got sons who are playing in the first‑class game in England. I've got friends who are still involved, Shaun Pollock, Gary Kirsten, these guys who are actively involved in cricket, and speaking to them, it's the same impression that you're getting from me.
So yes, there are some very high profile investigations that have come to light in recent times, the Bangladesh Premier League and the Lou Vincent cases, but to me those are reflective of when we do find something, then they are pursued relentlessly and hopefully prosecutions are the end result.
Q. So it's not as serious as some people think?
DAVID RICHARDSON: I think people will obviously be frightened as soon as incidents or investigations are talked about or spoken about, but definitely, as far as we are concerned, it's not as ‑‑ I don't think people need to be alarmed to the extent that they might be. In addition to that, you know, we've now reached the state because of maybe the example created by the Bangladesh Premier League case and the Vincent case, we now have reached a state where the players are reporting even the most innocent of approaches from people, which is another indication they realise the importance, they realise the threat, but they are at least working with the ACSU in making sure that these guys don't get their hands or get a grip on anything that we should be worried about.
Q. In the past you've said in your own defense that you've always worked and acted in the best interests of Indian cricket. Now in this position do you propose to act in the best interests of the game globally, and what is your vision for world cricket?
N. SRINIVASAN: See, cricket is a very old game. It has evolved over time, from Test cricket to ODI cricket to T20 cricket. I think one of the issues that is facing cricket is whether ‑‑ we are seeing in many countries, in many geographies, we are not seeing the kind of attendance at grounds that we are used to in the past. Some forms of cricket are more popular, and I think you'll see more attention, spectator attention.
Having said that, I think the most important thing that we must be looking at now is how to make cricket more interesting by making it more competitive, and this is where you will find in this new structure, there is a lot of emphasis on meritocracy. The glass ceiling has been broken. The Associates and Affiliates, the up‑and‑coming teams, they can come up, play the longer version, and I think with this, and as the public sees there is greater competition, I think cricket will also improve, and I think that is something that we will drive.
Q. What message would you like to extend back home in India to BCCI once you are taking over here as Chairman?
N. SRINIVASAN: I think the most important thing that I'd like to say is that I'm humbled by this opportunity to be a leader in this great organisation, which has done so much for cricket.
