When will ICC's Malcolm Speed go?

By ICF Staff
July 7 2006

ICC Presidents come and go, but the chief culprit behind the constant bungling and incompetence of the ICC remains the CEO: Malcolm Speed.

Malcolm Speed and Malcolm Gray were respectively CEO and President of the ICC when it took a long and disastrous slide downwards in its perception as a fair and competent administrative body.

Both typically combative and controversial Aussies, these two worked along with the ECB towards alienating the chief financer of world cricket, India, as well as the rest of the Indian subcontinent, and polarized world cricket sharply.

A bizarre makeup of the elite umpire and referee panel, heavily biased towards those two countries, have been put in place since the Malcolms took over the ICC.

Biased decisions by umpires and match referees, which invariably favor Australia and England, have been lambasted for the last several years. Even when Malcolm Gray stepped down as President (amid some very controversial statements he made about the attitude in cricket), Malcolm Speed hung grimly on to power, despite his poor track record and widespread rumors that he had antagonized most big sponsors during the last World Cup in South Africa.

Ehsan Mani of Pakistan, an uninfluential figurehead President of the ICC, has done nothing of note during his 2-year stint. He has kowtowed to the demands of Speed, rarely speaking his mind and always reinforcing the demands of his Aussie colleague at the helm. Far from speaking up for the Asian bloc, Mani often spoke up against them, prompting legendary bowler Wasim Akram to say, "I don't think this guy is Pakistani."

Now Percy Sonn of South Africa, an African administrator who has been influential in USBSA, has stepped into the vacancy left by Mani, amidst criticism, denouncement and ridicule by the likes of Cricinfo which hosts the official ICC site.

Sonn will be there for two years, during which time it is to be seen if he can improve the image of the beleagured ICC, which refuses to make improvements in the decision-making of its officials despite new technology which proves their bias every day. Then again, Malcolm Speed can hardly be expected to make changes that will result in improvements to decision-making which heavily favors his nation.

Sonn will be gone in another two years, but when will the Aussie who is the source of most controversial ICC practices be removed? Until that happens, cricket will continue to remain a sport that divides the countries which play it.