Top 5 most controversial cricket administrators

Cricket is a game largely played by the 22 men on the field and mostly it is the players who, rightly, hog all the limelight. But, of late, it has been the administrators who have mostly dominated all the talks around the cricketing world.

The recent spat between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Cricket South Africa surrounding the proposed tour between India and South Africa has taken everyone by surprise, particularly considering the close bond which these two boards share – it was the Indian board which played a major role in the return of the African nation to International cricket.

What was supposed to be a marquee series has now got into troubled waters, thanks to the fight between the administrators of these two boards. Fans, who were very eagerly looking forward to the first ball being bowled, have now been left wondering over whether the series will even start.

Also, with the controversy over the match-fixing and the alleged involvement of the Board President’s son-in law in the betting saga, followed by the reluctance of the President to relinquish his job has irked the fans to no extent.

There is a growing dissent against the administrators, particularly among the netizens, over the way the entire match-fixing and betting episode and the problem with the South African board have been handled thus far.

With the Indian team not playing International cricket for the moment, this now gives us the ideal opportunity to take a look at the 5 most controversial cricket administrators.

Kerry Packer

He was the man who revolutionised cricket with his break-away World Series Cricket in the late 70’s. Packer’s league threatened to put an end to International cricket, and though the league came to a swift end in just 2 years, it changed the very fundamental of the game.

Though, Packer brought many International cricketers away from their countries to play in his league, he transformed the game for the better. The concept of coloured clothing and day-night cricket were introduced for the first time during this series.

Jagmohan Dalmiya

The man from Bengal has been credited for turning around the finances of the International Cricket Council and it was he who made the cash-stripped BCCI into the power-house of world cricket. He took the game out to a wider audience and increased its reach among the public. It was he who brought the World Cup to the sub-continent.

But Dalmiya is also one of the most controversial figures in world cricket. Being the President of the BCCI at the time when Sachin Tendulkar was accused of ball-tampering in a Test match against South Africa and with five other Indian players either suspended or fined, he refused to bow down to the ICC. He went ahead and made the teams play in the following game, which was not recognized by the ICC.

He was accused of misappropriating funds during the 1996 World Cup and was banned from the BCCI. The man has now returned to the BCCI fold and also ran the board’s day-to-day affairs for a brief period.

Malcolm Speed

Speed held the post of ICC’s Chief Executive as a no nonsense person. He was someone who wanted the gentleman’s game to remain a gentleman’s game and his top priority was the good conduct of players on the field.

But he immediately ran into trouble following the ball tampering episode and his subsequent refusal to remove the match referee Mike Denness, who had banned Sachin for tampering the ball in the previous Test match, from the next match threatened to split the cricketing world into two.

Speed was later ousted from his post following his scathing attack against the Zimbabwe board, which did not find favour with most other member countries.

N.Srinivasan

The owner of the India Cements, has held the various State associations together – much like his company’s product – to hold on to his position as the Board President, even after so many controversies.

Following his son-in law’s alleged involvement in match-fixing and the case of conflict of interest against him, there has been a huge outcry among the public and the media to get him to step down from his post. Never before has any other Board member come under such intense public scrutiny.

Lalit Modi and Haroon Lorgat

Since, this article can only have the top 5 most controversial figures, both Lalit Modi and Haroon Lorgat have been stamped together.

One is the brain behind the creation of the Indian Premier League – which is being thought of as a ghost behind all the evils faced by Indian cricket and also a product of N.Srinivasan.

Haroon Lorgat, on the other hand, is seen as the major reason behind the fallout between two of World cricket’s best allies, India and South Africa. Surely both men could not have been left out from the list.