Mike Atherton

Calcutta: Former England captain Michael Atherton feels there’s too much hullabaloo over the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and that the Zee-backed tournament cannot come close to matching the impact Kerry Packer had in the late 1970s.

“Packer fed upon the disillusioned in the late 1970s. Great cricketers were served by administrators who were so far out of their depth, and out of tune with the changing times, that they could not sense the danger,” the former England captain has written in his column in The Sunday Telegraph.

“While there will always be some sense of wariness between the two, the modern-day player knows that he gets a much bigger slice of the pie now than ever before. He may be weary with the amount of cricket, but he is weary and wealthy.”

The very fact that Packer achieved commercial success will go against the ICL achieving anything close to that, argues Atherton. “Packer’s success in commercialising cricket, and in the process ensuring that cricketers everywhere received a fairer deal, is the very reason why the ICL presents little threat to the stability of the world game.”

Atherton also casts doubt over the claim that the rebel league has netted anybody worth their salt. “With the exception of Mohammed Yousuf, not one big-name player with a future rather than a past has signed up. Not one contracted player from India, Australia, the West Indies or England has been lured. South Africa are hardly weakened by the loss of fading stars such as Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje.”

And to compare with what Packer had netted would be laughable, says Atherton. “The assembled hacks in Mumbai must have found it hard to suppress a snigger as Kapil Dev announced to the stage the 44 domestic Indian players who have signed up. They were, he said, “the cream” of Indian cricket; such giants of the game as Reetinder Singh Sodhi and Abishek Jhunjhunwala.

“Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid must be quivering with fear at the threat to their commercial hegemony.”

Atherton feels the ICL has done a good turn to Indian cricket. “A number of state associations have been hit hard, but India may be thankful for the hurricane which is effectively blowing through the system, washing away many cricketers who, since they have no serious international ambitions, are clogging it up. County cricket could do with something similar.”

Much like the BCCI mandarins, Atherton feels the Subhas Chandra-funded league is all about money, not cricket.

“In all the brouhaha surrounding the ICL, the suspicion remains that it is not the interests of the Indian first-class cricketers that are at the heart of this venture, or indeed the interests of cricket as a whole, but simply the frustrations of a television owner who cannot slake the cricketing thirst of his viewers.”