That man Jagmohan Damiya is at it again. He is willing to even go to court to become the chairman of the International Cricket Council -- a desire of his which was thwarted in June last year but which seems to have surfaced again following a meeting of the Indian cricket board on February 20. His earlier bid met with failure. At that point, it seemed that the success of hosting the 1996 World Cup had led him to nurture this ambition. But now it seems that the power which the post confers on its holder is the bigger attraction.
After a meeting of the working committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on February 20, Dalmiya, secretary of the BCCI, said he had received the board's backing to challenge for the post again this year. "I have the full support of my board," Dalmiya said. "It means the BCCI is supporting me the whole hog, even if it means making a legal issue of any dispute that may arise on the question of my election."
Dalmiya's bid last year for world cricket's highest position was thwarted by England and Australia with support from New Zealand, South Africa and the West Indies. England and Australia insisted that candidates needed the support of at least two thirds of the ICC's full members, the nine test-playing countries. Dalmiya was backed by Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and also 19 of the 22 associate members. Test-playing countries have two votes against one for associate members.
At last year's poll, Dalmiya obtained 25 votes against 13 for Australia's Malcolm Gray in the first ballot. A third candidate Krish Mackerdhuj from South Africa withdrew. But at the second ballot, five of the test-playing nations supported Gray and with South Africa abstaining, Dalmiya was shut out. The ICC then decided that incumbent chairman Sir Clyde Walcott would continue for another year until July 1997.
Dalmiya has been instrumental in organising two World Cup tournaments in the Indian sub-continent, in 1987 and 1996. The last World Cup was held in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Dalmiya has also been involved in the raising of finances and cricket standards of several associate member countries. But the unresolved dispute over the required two-thirds majority of full members of the ICC will be a major hurdle in his way. "Let us see. I hope wiser counsel will prevail this time," Dalmiya said. "If need be, we might make it a legal issue."
Dalmiya has spoken much about his motives for wanting to be ICC chief. But all his talk of spreading the game just guises his motives for wanting the post. He would like to be the ICC supremo merely because it gives him the power to dictate certain things. He is a businessman and knows only too well the commercial potential of the game. The idea of having the Indian team playing on a year-round basis has its origin in his very fecund brain; milking the cow at all hours, not bothering that it may run dry fairly soon.
The subcontinent has three teams among the nine Test-playing nations, the most from any geographical region, Dalmiya has used this argument to advance his claims. He has his own deals with Pakistan and Sri Lanka but these will only become clear if he does get the post. A large number of the associate members owe their status in the ICC to positive votes by these three countries and debts have to be repaid.
His ideas remind one of the Indian argument that the country should be a member of the Security Council because of its size and population. There is no talk about how much power it wields on the international stage. Dalmiya's arguments are very similar. His motives for wanting to hold the post do not seem to spring from anything else than to make cricket more of a business proposition and less of a game. If only for this reason, the other ICC members would do well to select someone who has somewhat less base motives.