Negotiate in the interest of cricket at the CCI!

It is still not too late for the powers-that-be of the Cricket Club of India (CCI) to step down from their lofty pedestals.

Negotiate in the interest of cricket at the CCI!

It is still not too late for the powers-that-be of the Cricket Club of India (CCI) to step down from their lofty pedestals.

There's still time for them to negotiate a fair deal with IPL that will be in the best interests of their world-renowned club and the game of cricket, as also Mumbai's cricket deewane for whom there is no greater joy than witnessing a game at the delightful Brabourne Stadium.

In this endeavour, the club's pooh-bah would do well to remember the adage: "those who refuse to learn from the lessons of history are condemned to repeat them".

Ego, arrogance
They would also do well not to forget that ego and arrogance on the part of some of their predecessors resulted in the loss of international cricket for the CCI in 1974.

Whether or not the honourable members of the present executive committee are guilty of a "sell-out", as alleged by some members at last Saturday's Open House, ahead of the emergency General Meeting (EGM) scheduled for later in the month, is a moot point.

It is, possibly a mere hyperbole, which needs to be treated with the contempt it deserves in a gentleman's club, unless proven otherwise.

Nevertheless, the cries of "sell-out" did denote the red-hot anger in the card rooms and elsewhere in the club's precincts, over the proposed deprivation of 2,200 premium seats traditionally allocated to the elite club's members, since its inception 75 years ago.

However, it is being said by committee members that some of the most vociferous critics of the committee's proposal are least interested in cricket.

For many the thought of having to witness the next Twenty20 tamasha of the IPL (the left rib of the BCCI) from the public stands (it has been promised 5,000 seats for its 8,500 members) is said to be anathema.

A prominent industrialist member compared the IPL's demand to restrict access to members to the clubhouse during high-profile matches and temporarily "take over" the club for its invitees and guests for all the seven matches of Mumbai Indians and the finals in April-May, '09, as being "thrown out of our house".

Then, there are the traditionalist/purists who hold the Twenty20 format of the game in contempt.

In the words of businessman Darshak Mehta, a resident of Australia, "The IPL is not cricket. It is a cheap, vulgar, bastardized form of cricket which should be sent on its way either down Marine Drive to Wankhede or, better still, to DY Patil Stadium in Timbaktoo."

According to Mehta, a member for 29 years: "T20 is fast food when we (the CCI members) are connoisseurs of slow-cooked "Bukhara" or "Oudh" food.

"T20 is all foreplay, no orgasm, not interested," he says.

"If the IPL want to stage matches, they can put up their "guests, officials and invitees" in the stands. Why should CCI members go and sit in the stands?" he asks.

"We are an elitist club, and membership is damn difficult and damn expensive we might as well stop pretending it is not. It is not for all and sundry and the IPL are basically, well, very common. I can even smell them from here in Sydney."

Hartley Anderson, a son-in-law of India and acknowledged cricket buff who counts 'Tiger' Pataudi, Raj Singh Dungarpur and Abbas Ali Baig (the late ML Jaisimha, too, was a buddy) among his close friends, is all praise for the improvements in the club's restaurants, bars, accommodation and other facilities.

Younger generation
"Part of the art," he says, "is in moving with the times to provide activities that appeal to the younger generation who will be the future members and leaders."

Anderson, who has led the Sydney Old Collegians in India and hosted the CCI team in Australia for many years, adds: "As we all know, turkeys don't vote for Christmas, and one can expect that the self-interest, head-in-the-sands attitude will prevail."

As the dust settles on the indignation, bordering on vitriol, expressed by some members at last Saturday's Open House, it is becoming clear that pride and prejudice could prevail over the essential interests of cricket at the CCI.

A former India captain says: "Restoring International cricket should be paramount. Even if it means some sacrifice.

"In the context of the CCI being labelled the "Card Club of India," he adds, "that's the bigger picture and after years of practice a good card deal."

Indian squash legend Anil Nayar, after whom the CCI squash complex is named and who cut his squash milk teeth at the CCI courts under the loving care of the great Yusuf Khan, says: "CCI is turning into an eating and drinking club. Perhaps they will spin off the sports sections as they have done with the restaurants.

"Or bring in an international name along the lines of pedestrian 'Subway'.

"Yes, I feel too, the profile of our members is changing. And with that, the ethics that sports brings to the environment will be lost."

A distinguished retired diplomat, also a cricket buff says: "CCI lost cricket to Wankhede years ago. It will lose this second opportunity to DY Patil. It won't get a third opportunity.

"CCI has far more non-cricketing members (than cricket lovers) whose interests are confined to bars, restaurants, kitty parties and daily walks.

"What else can one expect? It is no longer a cricket club, unlike MCC, which remains the premier cricket club of London, of which I am proud to be a member. It is because MCC was careful enough not to admit non-cricket lovers as members," he says.

"Now that CCI members are willing to let go the most popular sport in India, (CCI) committee members may be better off thinking of changing the club's name and letting out Brabourne Stadium for Bollywood shows, wedding parties and whatever else makes money, while (non-cricketing) members retain their precious right to use the clubhouse for their merriment."

Democratic view
The views of the majority must prevail in any democratic institution and the CCI is undeniably one among them, as demonstrated by the fiercely fought recent elections.

What has struck me most of all in all the brouhaha is the obfuscation by some of the elite of the club, who call themselves lovers of the game of cricket.

As I see it, the issue in the present controversy is NOT the legitimacy of T20 as a form of cricket. Nor does anybody have the power on earth to permanently throw out CCI members from "their homes".

The issue IS allocation of seats to IPL in the clubhouse, to the detriment of members.

Amended by-law 145, which empowers the Club's Executive Committee to impose what it terms "reasonable restrictions on members and their entitlements during, before or after such match days, as the Executive Committee may deem fit or necessary," is, indeed, an issue, but it should be dealt with separately.

The confused thinking and rigidity induced by a barely-disguised, arrogant self-righteousness with scant regard (forget love) for the game of cricket, even as interested parties settle personal scores, is disgusting.

For me, the politicking and jockeying for power and position at the CCI is of no interest.

My concern IS the ill-advised, hotheaded, self-defeating hurry to cut off one's nose to spite the face.

My concern IS cricket at the Brabourne Stadium, for the return of which as an alternate Mumbai cricket venue Raj Singh Dungarpur and some of us have worked so hard, and on which Rs four crore has been invested by way of lights.

Sweet reasonableness, persuasion and a spirit of give-and-take can surely save the day cricket-wise even at this late stage.

Otherwise, future generations will never forgive those responsible for perversely denying them the exhilaration of watching cricket at the historic and indescribably beautiful Brabourne.

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