The new power of India
The new power of India
is a
surprising reversal of history. For a century, since
the first
test match against Australia in 1877, England has been the
undisputed
master of world cricket. The I mperial Cricket Conference ( ICC ), which was
created in
1909 and united England, Australia and South Africa,
administered
international cricket but was in fact a front for the
Marylebone
Cricket Club ( MCC ), which is installed at Lord's Cricket Ground in
North
London. This private club reserved for the English elite ran
English
cricket, which he had set the rules (pompously called the
"Laws")
since 1787. ICC(renamed the International Cricket Council
in 1989)
became an independent body only in 1993. Until that date,
England and
Australia retained a veto over any decision
made by
other countries. After the creation of the World Cup (which was
played on
matches of 50 throws for each camp), the
first three
tournaments, 1975, 1979 and 1983, took place in England. The reluctance to take
professionalism
seriously is at the heart of the cricket crisis in
England.
This sport was until the fifties the most "national"
of all
sports, according to the historian Ross McKibbin. Unlike football
and gambling
XIII(workers) or tennis and rugby (bourgeois), it was
practiced
and watched by the whole spectrum of society. However, he never escaped
completely
the control imposed by the English ruling classes in the early
nineteenth
century. English cricket kept the plebs
out not only
on the field but also in the stands. It
may have
retained or even acrru its attraction force but all attempts
to make it
more competitive and popular have met with stiff
resistance
until there is no alternative.
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