Int'l Cricket Council CEO Dave Richardson has admitted India indulged in "gamesmanship" and "bemoaned the power the nation had when it came to negotiating a restructure of the sport’s governing body," according to Tom Vickers of the LONDON TIMES. Earlier this year the national boards of India, England and Australia proposed a "radical overhaul of the ICC -- including increased shares of global revenue for all three" -- which were "voted through in modified form at the annual conference." It has been "suggested India, the overwhelming driver in broadcast and commercial revenue in the world game, had threatened to walk away from the ICC and its tournaments." Richardson "did not confirm that speculation but did admit the Board of Control for Cricket in India had played a forceful hand at the negotiating table." Richardson: "India were saying, 'We need to have more of a say, we need more money.' So it was a negotiation; it turned into a negotiation. ... Certainly India are in the driving seat when it comes to being in a good position at the negotiating table, bearing in mind their tours of every country are the extreme revenue generators." He also confirmed that the ICC board, "comprising all ten full members and three associate representatives, remained the primary decision-making body, not the new executive committee" (LONDON TIMES, 7/18). In London, Richard Hobson reported it "has been revealed" that umpires were told to "be stricter in clamping down on poor behaviour on the field after the winter Ashes series." Richardson said that instructions "went out to the officials with the image of the overall game in mind." He spoke "in the context of the spat between James Anderson and Ravindra Jadeja at Trent Bridge during the first Test between England and India" (LONDON TIMES, 7/19).
