Gray: contracts issue laced with 'greed and parochialism'

Outgoing International Cricket Council (ICC) president Malcolm Gray has admitted that the contracts controversy was laced with evils like "greed and parochialism", according to a report from India Abroad News Service.

Gray, who will hand over stewardship of the ICC to Pakistan's Ehsan Mani on Thursday, spoke at length about issues that have strained relationships between players, national cricket boards and the ICC. The interview quotes Gray as saying: "The contracts issue was a problem that was entwined with greed, bad management, lack of communication, nationalism and parochialism."

Further, he admitted that the ICC could have handled the imbroglio more sensitively. "We at ICC should have realised that the communication between the players and the boards was lacking in many parts of the world. Maybe we could have done more to ensure the players were properly informed and their views taken into account."

Gray's statements come in the wake of a claim of £ 50 million by the Global Cricket Corporation (GCC), who earlier entered into a US$ 550 million, seven-year sponsorship deal with the ICC. The deal assured the GCC of anti ambush-marketing measures, some of which could not be fulfilled in the course of the World Cup.

Shortly before the ICC Champions Trophy and the World Cup, uneasy compromises were reached and the tournaments got under way. It is these compromises that have given rise to circumstances in which the GCC can stake its claim for £ 50 million from the ICC.

Gray appreciated the gravity of the situation, but remained optimistic that a solution would be reached. "It is a complex issue and the claims that have emanated will take time to find solutions. However, if they are approached with a sense of reasonability by all parties, an answer could be arrived at in a relatively short time."