IPL AUCTION SPECIAL

Richard Madley - the safe hands behind IPL auction

by Akash Sarkar • Last updated on

Madley isn't shy about admitting that February 20, 2008 changed his life for forever. © BCCI

"Now you need to realise that I'm a human as well. I've got no DRS. Imagine this - I'm standing behind the stumps at the batsman's end. Now I have to scan from deep square leg to backward point on the boundary. And every position that comes in that 180 degrees."

Richard Madley, the IPL auctioneer, is quite animated in explaining the series of events that unfolded while selling Yuvraj Singh in the 2014 auction. Royal Challengers Bangalore went all out and were stretched till Rs. 10 Crore when the knock of the gavel echoed in the auction room.

However, that wasn't the end of it. Kolkata Knight Riders argued they were still bidding and forced Madley to open the bid again. As things turned out, RCB were forced to shell out additional four crores for Yuvraj.

"KKR, who were on my extreme right, called out 'I was bidding'. What people don't realise watching on television is that the auction room is huge. As an auctioneer, you can only scan the room once or twice before you bring down your gavel," Madley carries on. "In this case, I scanned the room and I saw no bids at backward point and no bids from square leg. The ongoing bid was coming from silly mid-on from RCB. And I dropped the gavel. When KKR said they were bidding, you'll notice the first thing I said was 'I did not see a bid'.

"I didn't see it. I didn't. But then they told me that just when my gavel went down, their paddle came up. RCB challenged it and said the player is ours. Now, here I'm the first, second and third umpire. I have to trust the bidder who is telling me he was bidding. You've got to trust them. So I accepted their word and we reopened the bidding. Naturally, RCB weren't happy but I feel I gave the right decision."

RCB certainly weren't. "The extra four crores were somewhat unfortunate but the auctioneer has the sole discretion. I think everyone saw him look around the room. And then the hammer fell but he chose to continue the bid. So life must go on," an annoyed Vijay Mallya had said soon after in the press conference.

In the ten IPL auctions so far, you'll be hard-pressed to think of more such disputes. Such has been the command of Madley over the years that the BCCI has had no hesitation in inviting him to conduct one of the biggest auctions in the world for ten straight editions.

Madley is set to be back for the 11th IPL auction as well. Franchises are looking to rebuild the teams and two hectic days are on the cards when the auction takes place in Bangalore on January 27 and 28. Several players have been retained the and the Right to Match card option has been brought back. And that, according to Madley, will slightly change the format of the auction this year.

"There are, I'm assuming, 21 opportunities for the teams to match the bid. It seems a small detail to many, but as an auctioneer, who is calling out the names and saying player sold to RCB, that player may not be sold to RCB if, say, MI agree to match the bid.

"That will change my style and the pace of the auction. Most importantly, I will need to stress for which team that player was playing in IPL 2017. Because ultimately, I will be looking at that table once the bid is sealed to see if they want to match the bid."

Madley is set to be back for the 11th IPL auction as well. ©BCCI

During later half of the 40-minute long conversation, different versions of 'IPL has been the highlight of my career' became a constant theme. Madley isn't shy about admitting that February 20 in 2008 changed his life for forever. And that too after he had established himself as one of the most renowned auctioneers in the world while working in New York.

But then, like many success stories, his journey too had a very humble beginning. It all started in a garage at the age of 16. "My father had just finished an auction selling contents of the house," he says reflecting on his first auction. "He gave me the gavel and I went and sold the contents of the garage. There were buckets and some gardening equipment. I was selling them in pence. So I was going 20 pence, 30 pence, 40, 50 pence."

Madley, soon after, took part in the Young Auctioneer of Year contest where he finished as the runner-up. Madley's father, who was also an auctioneer, had a big influence in him picking up the profession. "As a young boy during my school holidays, I would work in his auction room. I would stand beside him and watch him. He had this amazing ability to take money off people and still smile at the same time. He was a very, very good auctioneer. He taught me a lot subconsciously.

"He taught me the three Fs. A good auctioneer should be firm, fair and friendly. I try and impose that when I'm conducting the IPL auctions, where I am the only umpire there. At the same time, I do want people to see that I'm human at the end of it all."

Madley's father passed away when he was 18, after battling a long illness. But before he started to learn, Madley was inclined towards sports. He represented Wales in junior international hockey and tried his hands at cricket as well while playing in the Surrey league.

"We came from a very sports-oriented background. So that combination of auctioneering and sport appealed to me as a young man. I played in the European Championship for Wales. I played for the Wales international teams in the Under-18, Under-19, Under-21 level. Then I moved to London to train in the auction rooms and played in the Surrey league."

And yet, auctions involving sports came much, much later in Madley's career. He started as a salesroom porter in Phillips Son and Neale in Stratford in 1978. "I started at the very bottom which probably was a surprise to my parents. For me, it was a very good place to start," he stresses. " I was unloading the trucks. I was laying out sales.

"It took me about 20 years when I was appointed the president of Christie's East in New York. So I had gone from the very bottom to the top working my way through every level from portering, marketing, accountancy, sales, cataloguing and, of course, auctioneering. It takes time. There are no shortcuts. I, of course, moved up very quickly but then again it took me about 20 years."

The appointment in Christie's made Madley move to New York where his career soared to new heights. Having introduced rugby memorabilia auctions in Cardiff, he got to work as an auctioneer in New York selling baseball memorabilia. Despite moving, Madley's love affair continued to draw him towards cricket.

"I spent 10 years working in New York but then it didn't do a lot for my cricket," he says. "I would travel to Toronto every year to see India play Pakistan in the Sahara Cup which was being run again by my friend Andrew Wildblood.

"I got into baseball majorly because of my middle son Harry was a junior league baseball player. So instead of sitting beside a cricket pitch, as I would have done in England, I saw next to the baseball pitch. I would watch him play on every Wednesday and Saturday. We would go and watch the New York Yankees play and I actually realised what a wonderful game it is."

Madley remains the last auctioneer to conduct an auction at the World Trade Centre when he carried out an auction at the 'Windows of the World' on the 107th floor eight days before the unfortunate events of 9/11.

Madley represented Wales in junior international hockey. ©

Several factors played key roles in Madley being chosen as the IPL auctioneer. His experience playing cricket. His move to New York and his familiarity with selling things in US dollars.

It was then that Wildblood, who was head of cricket in IMG, and Lalit Modi turned towards Madley. "I keep getting asked this question a million times that out of all the auctioneers in the world, how did I get this opportunity? Now you need to remember, Andrew was my opening bowler in the Under-13 cricket team. I was his wicketkeeper. I never ever dropped a catch off his bowling. So he knew he was putting the IPL auction in a safe pair of hands," he gushes.

"My lifelong friendship with Andrew stood me in good stead. Lalit Modi and IMG needed an auctioneer who understood cricket, who was used to selling in US dollars, who was independent of any auction house and had the availability to move pretty quickly."

Madley distinctly remembers the auction day in 2008. It also happened to be his first visit to India and his first interaction with Modi. A briefing for the franchises followed ahead of the auction day.

While the day did change cricket in some ways, Madley feels the inaugural auction played a huge role in changing the world of auctions as well. "Nobody had any idea of how big that auction was going to be. From a British point of view, there was only one journalist who flew over to Mumbai. I walked towards the ballroom and saw the sea of cameras and journalists before the Bollywood stars started to arrive. I was surprised. I guess everyone was. On that day, two things had changed - cricket changed and the world of auction changed as well."

In several interviews of his, Madley has reiterated that selling Dhoni still remains the highlight of his career. But ask him about the most iconic moment and he comes up with a really interesting answer. "The first player ever picked out of that bag was Shane Warne. He was bought by the Rajasthan Royals. They went on to win the first IPL. First ever auction. First ever player. First ever bid. First ever player sold. And Royals became the first team to win the IPL. Quite extraordinary, really! Something that's never going to happen again."

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Several factors work in Madley's favour when it comes to IPL auctions. His cheekiness maintains the calm in the high-pressure auction room. His easy-going personality and presence help the franchises feel assured.

"I'm pleasantly surprised as well because there aren't many of us left from the first IPL in the management team. There are just three including me," he points out. "I look around the franchise owners and there are very few familiar faces. A lot has changed. I'm the face that gives the auction continuity.

"People always like the assurance and like to see me there. It's a little like old umpires standing in Tests and people feel reassured.

"I'm a high energy auctioneer. I'm still fascinated by what things sell for. IPL is the highlight of my career without a doubt but I show the same amount of enthusiasm for selling a wardrobe in the Bristol market or when I'm selling a holiday in the Caribbean."

With IPL auction in his resume, it's easy to forget the other things that keep Madley going throughout the year. In between that, he finds time to follow the IPL as well. After this auction, he'll probably be back for the tournament as well at some stage later on in summer when he's not busy raising funds for charity or auctioning.

After all, it's a tournament he loves. And he has a unique place in the tournament that has loved him back.

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