The IPL has created disquiet in world cricket: Michael Holding

Michael Holding is not known to mince words. In a no-holds-barred interview to DNA, the former West Indian fast bowler says WICB is the root cause of problems in West Indies cricket and IPL is the root cause of problems in world cricket. Excerpts:

A Test victory for West Indies after over two years. Good performance?
Well, a win is a win. Though it does not mean that I am happy with the performance, but I am happy with the end result. I think it was a very poor pitch for a Test match, but West Indies played better cricket and they won. And I am happy that we won.

Do you agree the win may have camouflaged the problems plaguing West Indies cricket?
Yes, there have been controversies; I don’t think that will go away. It has been destroying West Indies cricket for a long time. When you are constantly losing, it intensifies. There are things that need to be sorted with West Indies cricket, the team and the squad but we just have to wait and see how things pan out.

What is actually wrong with WI cricket?
There is a multi-faceted answer to the question because it has to be started at the very top. If things are not right at the top of the organisation, they will not be right at the bottom.

Do you blame the players or the board?
Both. There is not one innocent party or guilty party. Both parties have their questions to answer, both parties have their work to do.

How do you justify the presence of Chris Gayle in the IPL?
You have to ask the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the coach for that one. They were the ones who forced him to go to the IPL. He was not selected for the first two games here in the Caribbean against Pakistan. He does not have a contract with the board, so he has to go and seek employment somewhere else. As simple as that.

The WICB came out at the very beginning with the squad and the plan they had for Bravo and Pollard, but they had no plans for Gayle. So he had no idea where he stood.

So, you don’t doubt the commitment of Gayle towards WI cricket?
No, I don’t doubt the commitment of Gayle or any other cricketer towards West Indies cricket. What the problem is the amount of money that T20 cricket and IPL is paying. So, you find that the players want to play that tournament because who wouldn’t want to play a tournament that pays them a million dollars for six weeks’ work. What the cricket board has to do at such times is to manage their players so that they get the best out of them and the WICB has not done that.

A WI official has called Gayle a don. Is player power not holding WI cricket to ransom?
That official has apologised. He has realised that the remark was out of order. It is not player power that caused problems for the WICB. It is the board itself that is dysfunctional and weak.

WICB was quite happy to release Kieron Pollard. Is there some arrangement? Even in India people are curious about how Pollard got the NOC.
When the WICB came out with the squad, they declared their plans for Pollard and Dwayne Bravo. In that, it was stated that Pollard was free to go and play in the IPL because that would improve his game. That is absolute rubbish because IPL cannot improve his game as a cricketer. WICB is hiding the real reason why they are letting Pollard go and play in the IPL.

The same is the case with Bravo. He had to play in the one-day series, but he was allowed to go and play in the IPL instead of the Tests. If anybody asked Bravo what he wanted to do, he would have straight away said that he wanted to play the Test series. But the West Indies officials, who are in charge, did not want him around, so they sent him to the IPL.WICB were being dishonest in that press release in which they announced the squad.

So you seem to suggest IPL has created disquiet in the WI board?
IPL has created a disquiet in the entire world, except in India because, as I have said before and I say again, the IPL will never clash with an Indian tour and with an Indian series. It will only clash with other people’s cricket and other people are facing the problem of either playing in the IPL or representing their country. But the people running the game keep their mouths shut and never say anything because they do not want to upset the BCCI and the people who are running the IPL.

Do you mean to say the world cricket managers are scared of BCCI?
I don’t know if they are scared but they are certainly not in charge of the game. ICC is not in charge of cricket. FIFA are in charge of football. They are a proper organisation. They may say that they are corrupt but they run football properly. There might be alleged corruption among the officials, but look at football around the world! It is managed properly. If FIFA wants to hold a tournament or set a rule, every country has to abide by that. ICC is always complying with India. They have no power. They are not in control. If ICC cannot enforce policy, if they do not run the game, what is their purpose?

Finally, how do you rate Indian cricket?
India are playing very good cricket, they are rated number one in Test. But they have to be careful in the next two years when the likes of Dravid and Laxman retire. They might fall into the kind of slump that the WI did and now, even Australia have to be careful about what they are going to do.