'Umpires should not be coat hangers'

Malcolm Speed has made a huge impact on the International Cricket Council since he took over as CEO in 2001. At that time cricket's apex body was in disarray. Three years later, there is a degree of professionalism in the organization, its level of awareness has grown and revenues have increased.

A qualified lawyer, Speed played lower grade club cricket in Australia and earned acclaim as a cricket administrator. Besides running a sports management business he was also chairman of Basketball Australia.

The 56 year-old former Chief Executive of the Cricket Australia, whose tenure with the International Cricket Council has been extended till July 2005, spoke with Ashish Magotra in an exclusive interview.

Twenty-20 has been a huge success in England. Do you ever see Twenty-20 being played internationally? Will it ever co-exist with ODIs [One-Day Internationals] and Test match cricket?

I think it's a bit early to tell that. There has been a lot of interest in the early matches. I'd like to wait till the end of the year to see whether it manages to sustain that interest and see how it goes in other countries.

We need to be very careful. Cricket has done well over the last year. There is a lot of interest in ODIs and Test cricket. We need to be careful that we do not overcrowd the market by bringing in something that will tilt the balance. But we will look at it very seriously at the end of the year. If there is a role for the ICC to play in introducing it to international cricket, we will do that.

The Pro-Cricket League in the United States received no support from the ICC. What were the reasons behind that action?

The reason for that is again the ICC's long-term consistent policy.

If a promoter wishes to run a cricket event in the country, he needs to have the Board's permission. In this instance, it meant the promoter needed the approval of the USA Cricket Association. He did not have that and the ICC had no option but to instruct the boards to not send their players.

However, the US is being targeted as an important country for the growth of the sport. There are over 10,000 active cricketers in the US, which is more than that of a country like Nepal. Resources are already being allocated to the US and the ICC is in the midst of appointing a Chief Executive for the US.

The US qualified for the ICC Champions Trophy by playing a six-nation tournament in Dubai. The competition was so fierce that five teams were tied for the second place and the US only made it through on run-rate.

In the next 10-15 years, the ICC sees cricket carving a niche for itself in the country. The sport is played mainly by immigrants, so it is difficult to see it taking on the National Football League, Major League Baseball or the National Basketball League. We see it as being a niche sport. Not taking on the major sports.

Innovations are being introduced during the ICC Champions Trophy in England but they are nothing really out of the world. Is there anything really revolutionary that is being planned in the near future?

We want to maintain the umpires' primary role in the game. Don't underestimate the difficulty of the umpire's job. They have to withstand great pressure. We want them to be decision makers; they should not be coat hangers!

[Incidentally a survey conducted by the ICC found that during the 2003-04 season, 91% - 92% of the decisions given by international umpires were spot-on. The ICC would like this figure to be closer to 94% - 96%]

In recent times umpires have come in for a lot of criticism. In other sports, like soccer for instance, the age limit for international referees is 45. Are you thinking along those lines for cricket too?

What was the inspiration behind the 'Best' versus the 'Rest' of the world series?

I have been trying to get the board to adopt this for the last two years. What we are seeking to do is, in the fourth year, when there is no ICC events, to put an ICC event in there.

It worked very well for the ICC in the mid-seventies with Test cricket. I was talking to Bishen Singh Bedi [legendary Indian spinner] last night and he said those matches were the best he had played in. I had forgotten he was in those matches.

So what we are doing is that we are playing the ODIs and the Tests together over the same short period of time. I am quite confident that it will be successful and am looking forward to an exciting addition to cricket's calendar next year.

The Tax issue has cropped up once again. Earlier, when the ICC Champions Trophy was planned in Bangalore and Chennai there was a similar problem. So what exactly is the problem? What are you expecting from the Indian government?

If we were to play in India at the moment there is a risk that we would be taxed on all our revenues from the event. We can play in other regions of the world and we will not be taxed or we will pay very little tax.

The ICC is a non-profit organization and all the revenues we earn from an event goes back to our members. So it is appropriate that we play whenever possible in places where we have to pay the minimal tax. So what we will be seeking here [in India] is that the government exempts us from tax.