Cricket on the Continent by Tim Brooks

Author:Tim Brooks
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Governance and Administration

While ICC Europe have sought to provide structures and support to enable the objectives of the development programme to be achieved in Europe it is member boards that run cricket in their countries. There has been a tendency in the media and within the cricketing community on the continent to blame the ICC for any failings or shortcomings. Less scrutiny has been placed on the management, strategy and efficiency of the member boards themselves.

From ICC Europe’s perspective the member boards are the delivery agents through which they progress their objectives. They therefore have a vested interest in member boards being run efficiently. They are also their paymasters and have a corporate responsibility both to ensure boards are complying with the requirements of membership and that there is a clear audit trail to demonstrate return on investment. There has been considerable comment and debate about the level of ICC funding in Europe, but very little is said about how effectively the money is spent.

In order to support good governance in its members ICC Europe runs regular sessions to improve skills, increase business acumen and implement best practice in recruitment and management practices. Cricket boards at associate and affiliate level are not established as businesses and are rarely run along corporate lines and yet they receive and administer funds. An example of this amateurism was seen in Ireland in the ODI quadrangular tournament they hosted in 2007. The Irish Cricket Union had marked the occasion with a dinner for its committee members, all sporting very smart ICU blazers. However, while they were dining the handful of spectators in the ground were forced to walk around the boundary because no chairs had been provided. This slapdash approach soon changed with the formation of Cricket Ireland, a professional organisation run by the very businesslike Warren Deutrum. An Irish example, but illustrative of an ingrained amateurism prevalent across Europe at the time.

I have very rarely seen the competence of national boards for carrying out such functions analysed or challenged. As a national sporting body their governance, ethics and performance will be audited but as their key sponsor the ICC have a right to be assured of fundamental corporate principles such as transparent decision-making, clear audit trails and demonstration of value for money.

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