JAGMOHAN Damiya has finally got what he wanted. he will be head of the International Cricket Council after Sir Clyde Walcott steps down in June this year. Dalmiya will occupy the new post of president after Sir Clyde, the incumbent chairman, finishes his term. From a member of the three Ws who was knighted for his services to the game to a construction magnate will certainly be a bit of a change.
Dalmiya had made one effort to become ICC chief last year but that failed. Earlier, this year he hinted that India would take recourse to legal action if the ICC again foiled his bid to head the organisation. India had made a similar threat after his bid was defeated last year.
When he contested the post in July 1996, Dalmiya was backed by three full ICC members -- Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe -- and a majority of the 22 associate members. Full members have two votes against one for the associate members. Australia and England thwarted Dalmiya by citing ICC rules that a winning candidate needed the support of at least two-thirds of the full members -- this meant six out of nine Test-playing nations. The West Indies and New Zealand backed this move. A similar battle was expected at the ICC meeting in June this year.
But a compromise was reached in order to avoid giving the impression that the ICC is divided. Dalmiya, whose term of office will run from June this year to June 2000, will have an Australian serving as vice-president from June 1999; Australia has been elected to follow India at the head of the ICC for the next three years. The horse-trading took place in Kuala Lumpur where the ICC tournament is being played to decide which three associate members make it to the World Cup in 1999.
Dalmiya has said he plans to use his term of office to spread a game which is currently confined to a handful of countries. In 90 years since the ICC was formed, there are just nine Test-playing nations and in Dalmiya's words: "Cricket needs to break free of its shackles if it is to spread its wings." Noble sentiments, of course.
But it must be remembered that this is the same man who once proposed that each innings in a Test match have a time limit. Else, he suggested, there could be a limit on the number of overs which a team could bat. That this would bastardise the game which has given cricket its reputation and earned it the following of millions, albeit in a few countries, did not, apparently strike the man. It is akin to the recent brilliant proposal that goalposts be widened to ensure that more goals are scored in World Cup soccer matches.
Dalmiya's plans are very simple -- have one-day tournaments in every corner of the globe, sell the TV rights and make a lot of cash. This, he feels, will spread the game. One-day cricket is what he dreams about when he says that he wants the game played all over the globe. He would have firm support from the geniuses who come up with marketing ideas that border on the ridiculous -- like the one which resulted in each batsmen dismissed during the triangular series in Australia have a particular piece of music accompany him back to the pavilion.
Some would say that it would be only fair to wait awhile and see what the man comes up with. But then one has paste experience to go by and that is not very encouraging. The man who pays the piper generally calls the tune and after a World Cup that yielded a $100 million financial bonanza, Dalmiya was probably seen as a dollar sign. There is a point at which money and art part ways and it remains to be seen whether he can keep this in mind during his quest to "popularise" the game.