Change Cricket

Death of a Gentleman . started this petition to The Sports Ministers of Britain, India and Australia started this petition to

Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world but is being run into the ground due to the self-interest of its three richest members – Australia, England and India. Meanwhile we, the fans who contribute so much to the game, have no idea how or where our money is spent while our game shrinks. Let’s save this great game by demanding our governments tackle the culture of greed that is destroying cricket.



This isn’t just a sporting issue. When FIFA’s ruling body was exposed for rampant corruption, people stood up to protect a game loved by billions around the world. We must do the same for cricket. In the name of money and greed, cricket’s oligarchs have awarded themselves the majority of the game’s multi-billion dollar TV revenues, kicked out poorer cricketing nations from the World Cup, and connived to award their three countries every major global event until at least 2023!



WHAT WE WANT TO DO



Let’s demand our governments -- elected representatives charged with protecting sport -- force their respective cricket boards to reform our beloved game and #changecricket before it’s too late. Sign now.



WHY IS THIS NECESSARY?



England, Australia and India’s cricket boards dominate the International Cricket Council, the sport’s ruling body -- last year shamefully awarding themselves 52% of the ICC’s billion-dollar global television revenues, leaving the other 102 cricketing countries the remaining 48%.



Cricket continues to shun millions of dollars of government funding around the world by refusing to become an Olympic sport -- money which would support the sport at grassroots level in developing nations and give valuable opportunities to the next generation of players worldwide. Pressure is building on the ICC with the release a new documentary, 'Death of a Gentleman', which is making media headlines for exposing the elite’s hijacking of cricket -- where billion-dollar decisions are made without even basic accountability and transparency.



HOW CAN WE #CHANGECRICKET?



Independent governance is the only way cricket can deal with the problems caused by the huge influx of television money -- as recommended in a 2012 report by the former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf. But the report was rejected by the board of the ICC within days, and two years later saw a power grab by the boards of the three most powerful member nations.



Now is the time to act. Let’s call on our sports ministers to demand the national cricket boards of Australia, England and India implement the recommendations made in the Woolf Report -- independent governance with basic transparency and accountability -- to save cricket as a global game. Let’s join together and create a global outcry to urge our governments to act, and #changecricket once and for all.



With hope,

Sam Collins, Jarrod Kimber and the Avaaz team



More information:

#ChangeCricket: http://www.changecricket.com



The Woolf Report: http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/DOWNLOAD/0000/0093/woolfe_report.pdf



Transparency International: “Fair Play: Strengthening Integrity and Transparency in Cricket” http://issuu.com/transparencyinternational/docs/2013_fairplaycricket_en?e=2496456/5641906.

