The former head of the Int'l Cricket Council called “laughable” the threat by the Board of Control for Cricket in India "to form a parallel ICC," according to Osman Samiuddin of THE NATIONAL. That "threat was revealed" by BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel. But Ehsan Mani, who was president of the ICC from '03-06 and has emerged as a "staunch critic" of the restructuring, claimed that "such a threat would not have withstood concerted opposition from other members." Mani: “The threat by BCCI that it would have formed a parallel ICC is laughable. If the ICC, supported by the ECB [England Cricket Board], CA [Cricket Australia], Pakistan and South Africa, had the moral strength to stand up to the threats from BCCI, BCCI would have, without doubt, backed off once it realized that it could not make money by playing only against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, New Zealand or West Indies" (THE NATIONAL, 6/9). GO CRICKET reported Mani said that "during his tenure, boards from other countries had come together to stop the Full Member from breaking away, and felt that Australia and England, who together with India form the Big Three, 'panicked' when the BCCI made such a threat." Mani: "They (the ECB and CA) should have just stopped and thought about what is in the best interest of the game, instead of panicking which they clearly did -- and started trying to compromise the organization" (GO CRICKET, 6/10).
