Not always does one get to discuss cricket with Clive Lloyd and Haroon Lorgat really late into the night. I had such an opportunity at the recently concluded International Cricket Council (ICC) Centenary Conference at Oxford. After having dinner at St John?s College, where all the conference delegates were staying, we walked over to the common room at the St John?s Alumni Guest house to start with a session of adda that continued till 1 am in the morning! From Clive saying that Bishen Bedi was the first Sikh he had ever seen and hence couldn?t stop clicking photographs to commenting on the current impasse in West Indies cricket, he was in his element. Haroon too was a relaxed man after a great day?s deliberations. He candidly outlined his plans to get the Champions Trophy back on track come September. In enjoying a really beautiful Oxford night, we had achieved what we had set out to achieve while planning the conference ? create a forum of open dialogue and discussion.
However, the incident that overshadowed all else occurred as we were lazily walking our way to the common room. Three fairly inebriated Oxford lads saw the group, stopped and looked excited. Not unusual because you don?t too often see Clive Lloyd walking the streets of Oxford. As one of them approached us, we asked Clive to get ready to sign a few autographs. To our utter amazement the chap walked up to him, looked closely and asked if Clive was in fact the boxing promoter Don King! Upon realisation that he wasn?t the guy apologised and went away. In that one moment, Oxford had come alive. Not once in the three days that celebrities of the stature of Clive Lloyd, Sourav Ganguly, Bishen Bedi, Bob Willis were in Oxford were they mobbed. The conference venue was indeed full but not with men and women eager to catch a glimpse of the stars.
Rather, it was an extremely clued in audience, exactly the kind you want at an event like this. And the speakers did not disappoint either. From discussing the future of Test cricket and the impact of the IPL, from chucking to ball tampering and going back into history to analyse if indeed the West Indies team under Clive was practising bodyline, not a single session left the audience bored. It was a conference that proved beyond doubt that a rich discussion of cricket history continues to have takers.
What the conference certainly brought to light is that world cricket is at a crossroad. If the ICC is able to play its part responsibly and steer the world game well in the course of the next decade, cricket will be stronger than ever. If things are allowed to drift and personal ambitions are given priority, we are staring at a rather difficult phase in the games history.
In steering the course of the game?s future, most attendees asked for a greater involvement from those who played the game. Giving up on the lure of commentary, if these greats take up the cudgels of administration, the game can only stand to benefit. It was also noted that the path to doing so won?t be easy.
Cricket administration is a much politicised arena across the world and things won?t happen on their own. It is to deliberate on issues of players involvement in administration, the future of Test match cricket, the proper harnessing of the commercial genie and the role of India in steering the game forward that the ICC is now looking at making the conference a more regular event in the cricket calendar. That, for me, is the biggest plus from the conference. While I will perhaps not be doing it again, I am sure cricket history will have many takers and it will be staged at a different venue in a different garb. I?d certainly love to go and speak though!
The writer is a cricket historian