The end of the big three

Three years ago, the cricket world sat down and sanctioned an oligarchy with cash-rich India at helm. Flanked by England and Australia, the Indians formed the so-called big three through an engineered overhaul of the International Cricket Council (ICC) that gave the three cricket boards near-complete administrative control of the world body and a greater share of the collective financial pie.         On Thursday, the cricket world sat down again and decided that they were wrong. At a meeting in Dubai, the ICC received loud and clear support from all its member nations, except for India, to once again restructure the body, but this time to curb the dominance of the big boys. When the big three was formed back in 2014, the driving force behind the idea was greed. The Indians, together with England and Australia, wanted a greater share from the ever-increasing ICC revenues. Their excuse for a takeover was that since India was world cricket’s financial engine, it deserved more power and a greater share of the revenue. England and Australia towed India’s line and were rewarded with a greater share than other full member nations like Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka. However, upheavals back home left the Indian cricket board (the BCCI) with a new leadership as Shashank Manohar replaced S Srinivasan – the man regarded as the architect of the big three takeover – at the helm of the board. It exposed the chinks in the BCCI’s armour, allowing other member boards to begin a fight to end the India-led oligarchy that ran the ICC.

Though the BCCI continues to resist it, the writing seems to be on the wall. The ICC members nations have managed to amend the body’s constitution and financial structure in order to make revenue-sharing more equitable. The Indians, who stand to lose around $277 million over the next eight years following the changes, are fuming. They have even threatened to boycott this June’s ICC Champions Trophy in England. But the rest of the cricket world has spoken. The new model was passed by a vote of 13-1. And the man, who was instrumental in getting the new model in place, is in fact an Indian himself. Manohar, who headed the BCCI before taking over as ICC chairman, has declared that the vote was another way forward for world cricket. He is right. The ICC’s revenue-distribution formula devised in 2014 was a travesty of justice. By dumping it, the ICC has, to an extent, undone a great deal of harm caused to cricket and the many nations that play and follow this great sport. Though the ICC still has a long way to go before it brings itself in a position where it can best serve the game, at least it has corrected its path and that’s a good sign for the future of international cricket.