ICC faces new crisis over England tour

England's tour of India could be cast into doubt as India's power struggle with the International Cricket Council (ICC) threatens a fresh crisis within the next few days.

If India select banned batsman Virender Sehwag for the first Test against England at Mohali starting on December 3, cricket's world governing body is likely to declare the Test null and void, just as it did the third Test between South Africa and India.

That would leave England with the stark choice of either abandoning the series before a ball is bowled, or taking the field against the ICC's wishes.

The England and Wales Cricket Board have already made their position clear, chairman Lord MacLaurin saying: "We stand full square behind the ICC... They control world cricket -- we have anarchy at the moment."

Asked about Sehwag, he told Sky News on Sunday: "As far as we are concerned he won't be playing (in the first Test) -- if selected, it would be a very short-sighted view by the Indians. He quite clearly won't be eligible."

Asked if the tour could be called off, he said: "I think that would be absolutely tragic... It would be the last thing on our minds to even think about pulling out."

The 23-year-old Sehwag, barely known outside India a week ago, has unwittingly become the central figure of a controversy that is threatening to split the world of cricket.

The affair began when six Indian players, including Sehwag, were censured by ICC-appointed match referee Mike Denness in the second Test against South Africa.

BOYCOTT THREAT
Indian cricket board head Jagmohan Dalmiya, indignant over the decisions and particularly over Sachin Tendulkar being sanctioned for ball tampering, threatened a match boycott before persuading South Africa, under pressure from its own government, to sack Denness for the third and final Test without ICC permission.

The ICC responded to what it saw as a challenge to its authority by stripping the match of its Test status, a decision Dalmiya has since declared unconstitutional.

If Tendulkar, an icon in India and without a previous blemish on his reputation, and Denness were the key figures of the past week, Sehwag will be the central protagonist in the days to come.

Sehwag, accused of excessive appealing in only his second Test, was the one Indian player to be given an immediate one-match ban by Denness.

The Indians, by not selecting him for the third match against South Africa, argue the ban has been served.

The ICC, though, in not recognising that game, maintains Sehwag is not eligible for India's next official Test, against England in Mohali.

India's selectors are expected to name a squad for that game on Tuesday. If Sehwag, who only made his Test debut earlier this month, is selected, the situation could further spiral out of control.

RADIO INTERVIEW
Dalmiya, the previous ICC president and the current head of the Asian Cricket Council, appeared to try to defuse the situation by suggesting in a BBC radio interview: "We are respecting, we will respect in future all decisions of the ICC." He also denied trying to lead an Asian cricket breakaway.

MacLaurin said: "Any talk of a split along racial lines is unacceptable and very sad -- hopefully we'll look back on this in a month's time and it will just be a little bit of a storm in a teacup."

India's position, meanwhile, appeared increasingly isolated on Sunday, as the South African media attacked its own board for caving in to Indian demands and allowing the third 'Test' to go ahead without Denness.

"SA (South Africa) players not consulted as UCB (United Cricket Board) fumbles the Indian blackmail ball," was the headline above a Sunday Times sports page opinion piece.

'SHAMEFUL REVELATION'
"The most shameful revelation to emerge from South Africa's confrontation with the ICC is that the UCB failed to consult the players before robbing them and their followers of a Test match," the article said.

ICC president Malcolm Gray, meanwhile, is likely to take a hard line with India, according to London's Sunday Times.

"We have the power to expel a member country. It is in our articles of association and is the only power available to us in disciplinary terms," Gray was quoted as saying.

Gray said he was confident he would win the support of the majority of the ICC's 15-man executive board over the Denness affair.

The board is due to meet next in March but an emergency meeting could be called sooner.

India's tour of South Africa : Complete coverage

Mail Cricket Editor