Gideon Haigh's Blog, page 6

Put the game before the brand

Thinking of cricket purely as a brand will only impede the clean-up the BCCI needs to undertake in the wake of the IPL mess

Why so surprised?

The IPL has always been a candidate for Enron-sized corruption. Modi operated with impunity, and Indian cricket laid itself open to becoming a vehicle for tax minimisation and money laundering

Piece de resistance

An Englishman who made an art out of obduracy

Really, Warnie?

The IPL has become an occasion for tub-thumping, mutual back-slapping and all-consuming PR

Bring on the controversy

The five-day game has been rendered dull by wall-to-wall tours and context-less competition. A little scandal occasionally wouldn't go amiss

Club or country? Same difference

Far from marking the end of nationalism, the IPL is the ultimate triumph of that principle: a global tournament in which the same nation always wins

The captaincy of Harry Trott

A pioneer in moving fielders, shuffling and resting bowlers, the pathbreaking Australian captain believed much of the game was played above the shoulders

A taxing question for the BCCI

Does cricket make money to exist or exist to make money? The BCCI's dispute with the Indian tax authorities throws the old question into focus again

A crisis too good to waste

The ICC is struggling to remain relevant and also competing for players and money with its largest member board, the BCCI; and therein lies its possible salvation