BCCI wants panel to be reconstituted

The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Saturday expressed strong reservations over the manner in which the International Cricket Council constituted a three-member committee to probe the Mike Denness controversy, and asked the world body to "reconsider and reconstitute" the panel.

"It was disappointing that the ICC had no concern or respect for Indian views while forming the panel," BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya told a crowded press conference in Kolkata.

The board president questioned the procedure followed by the ICC in constituting the panel and described it as 'confusing', since it started speaking to all its nominees even while the process of discussions were on.

"The BCCI felt it was not an accepted norm to speak to the concerned persons before their inclusion was finalised and it gave an impression that the appointment of members to the Commission by the ICC was pre-determined," he said.

In a letter to ICC president Malcolm Gray, Dalmiya expressed his dissatisfaction with the formation of the panel and asked the world body to reconstitute it in the larger interests of the game.

ICC had on Friday announced the three-member panel, headed by Justice Albie Sachs of South Africa, with Majid Khan of Pakistan and Andrew Hilditch of Australia as its members.

Dalmiya, however, refused to disclose his next course of action in case the ICC rejects the BCCI's request.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it," he said.

Elaborating on BCCI's objection to the panel members, Dalmiya said it should have been an independent one with no involvement from India, South Africa or England. Justice Sachs should not have been in in it, he said.

While describing former Pakistan captain Majid Khan as "a perfect gentleman", Dalmiya said his recent comments on match-fixing involving Pakistan and Bangladesh had created some controversy.

About Andrew Hilditch, the BCCI chief said he was no longer actively involved with the game.

Dalmiya said the BCCI had, therefore, suggested the names of Justice Ahmed Ebrahim of Zimbabwe as a perfect choice to head the panel as he was a 'rare combination' of an ICC match referee and a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of his country.

Dalmiya rejected the contention of the ICC that two of the BCCI nominees -- Richie Benaud of Australia and Imran Khan of Pakistan -- are not available, saying that Imran Khan has denied having been approached by the ICC while the panel's sessions could have been adjusted to accomodate Benaud.

Apart from these former players, the BCCI also proposed such respected names as Sir Garfield Sobers and Clive Lloyd of West Indies, (umpire) Dickie Bird, Geoff Boycott and David Gower of England and Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri Lanka) and Zaheer Abbas (Pakistan) from the sub-continent.

Dalmiya, however indicated that the door for a negotiated settlement of the current impasse is always open.

"The approach road is not breached yet. We are hoping for a discussion. We hope that the ICC will give due weightage to our points and reconstitute the panel," he said.

"We appreciate that the ICC is the parent body and we will go three-fourths of the way to meet the requirements of ICC," he added.

Dalmiya said the BCCI had never considered itself a parallel body and always treated the ICC as the parent body. "But it is the duty of the parent body to see that the grievances of an affiliated unit are redressed."

He also rejected the contention that the latest issue could once again revive the fears of a split in international cricket. "Where is the question of a split? In a democracy everything is decided by the majority. We only want that our grievances should be addressed."

Dalmiya said as per the September 30 agreement with the ICC, the Commission was supposed to be formed in consultation with the BCCI but it was disappointing that the ICC did not take the consent of the Indian board before finalising the panel members.

Dalmiya said the manner in which the panel was formed was contrary to the spirit of the agreement that was entered into on November 30 last year.

"The ICC seemed to focus on the legal connotations of the term 'consultation' rather than its true spirit and essence," he said.

Having gone through the ICC's intimation, he said, it appeared the problem areas had narrowed down.

In his letter, Dalmiya said: "It appears that you do not have a problem in substituting Andrew Hilditch and Majid Khan. Otherwise, you would not have spoken to Richie Benaud and Imran Khan to ascertain their avaibility..."

"...With regard to Benaud, you have stated that he is willing to be a member, but has a problem with the dates. It is understandable because he may have prior commitments. ICC could certainly find out the dates on which Benaud is available and the sessions could be fixed accordingly."

Mail Cricket Editor