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ICC has lost a legend’s services

ICC must have written guidelines for all members who have media commitments, writes Makarand Waingankar

Freedom of speech and expression may be propagated by most countries, but certain institutions are wary of such freedom when practiced inopportunely.

Sunil Gavaskar made a few explosive observations in his column while on the tour of Australia, and the Australian and English media made an issue of how a Chairman of the ICC’s Cricket Committee could make such comments.

The comments of the ICC President-elect David Morgan about Gavaskar’s clash of interests fuelled the controversy, and eventually it was left to the ICC Executive Board to discuss and decide about the role Gavaskar wishes to play in the ICC.

The Board was certainly embarrassed about Gavaskar’s casting strong aspersions on an ICC colleague Mike Proctor, and felt that a person holding a post in the ICC should have been careful in expressing views which unnecessarily created controversy.

Defence

Gavaskar’s defence was that what he wrote were the feelings of the many Indians and not his.

This was not acceptable to the ICC bosses as they felt that while a columnist is entitled to his opinion, he cannot claim the same privilege in presenting the supposed views of the masses.

The ICC’s error has been in not making it clear to all those affiliated with it that while media commitments are acceptable, they cannot criticise the ICC while representing it. Gavaskar is known to speak his mind and has been consistent in this regard.

For almost eight years that Gavaskar was the Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee, he was careful about what he wrote and said. But the tour of Australia had controversies of a magnitude that he could not avoid taking a stand on. Had he not taken a stand on those issues, the readers certainly would have questioned his integrity.

Though working with an institution and writing objectionable stuff about it is not acceptable to any institution, the ICC must have written guidelines for all the members who have media commitments.

In the case of Gavaskar, it was clear that he was told to stop criticising the ICC’s policies and appointments or quit.

That Gavaskar quit is laudable. There are not very many cricketer-columnists of Gavaskar’s stature who call a spade a spade, and the way ICC is functioning, we need more experienced cricketers to act as the watchdogs. of the game.

Objective assessment

The objective assessment of any issue has to be discussed. And if there are supportive or objective comments expressed on such issues, those need to be viewed in the context that will help the game.

Gavaskar, perhaps, will be able to contribute to the game more freely now. The ICC would have been better served if it had clarified its stand to Gavaskar and requested that he refrain from criticising the ICC while working with it.

They had no intent of limiting his writing on non-ICC issues. But the course the ICC pursued has lost them the invaluable services of a legend.

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