Zeecric Exclusive/ Himanshu Shekhar New Delhi: Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA) has warned the ICC against going ahead with the post-2012 FTP and have threatened them with a massive players revolt.
FICA Chief Executive Tim May told Zeecric.com- “It is just a mad scramble of cricket between a number of countries, it has been constructed without any principles at all,”
The FICA maintained that the ICC have currently not addressed the needs of the changing scenario of the sports and it is because of this apathy that many cricketers have to bid adieu to international cricket when it comes to choosing between their own country and the T20 league.
“Events like IPL, if not incorporated in FTP adds undue pressure on players’ fitness and adds to their fatigue. Proposed FTP doesn’t provide any window for the Indian Premier League which results in an unsustainable amount of cricket on an annual basis for players,” FICA CEO said.
May added, “It will drive players from the International game - players preferring to play higher reward, less physical / grinding form of the game (T20 - IPL)_ 5) Their model will drive players from the International cricket.”
“It needs to construct a model that attracts and retains players not deters them, cricket needs a FTP that has context - it needs a Test Championship over a short time period ( say 1-2 years) , it needs a ODI Championship over a similar period. An FTP with context will increase commercial returns to the game and all nations, with a lesser amount of cricket being played.”
He also said that the proposal will make it simpler for the cricketrs to cope up with the growing stress of the modern day game, “This will make International cricket less a burden for our top players and will minimise the early retirements of these cricketers.”
On being asked about FICA’s plan of action on what steps they would take to tackle the issue, May said:
”Obviously FICA is the peak body of the individual player associations – our player associations will deal with their Home Boards in determining upper limits of cricket to be played by their respective countries. Additionally at the end of the day if the Boards ignore such rational arguments - the players will just move away from International cricket – we are seeing this at present.”
First Published: Thursday, October 8, 2009, 00:00
(The views expressed by the author are personal)
