Former referee Chris Broad alleges ICC of ‘blatant leniency’ towards India, accuses Ganguly of…

Former England batter and Test great Stuart Broad’s father, Chris Broad, was a renowned ICC match referee who oversaw 622 international games in his over two-decade career. Broad recalls dodging several bullets, some of which were also politically inclined, during his time refereeing in international cricket.

In his latest interview with The Telegraph, he made some explosive remarks against the apex body – the ICC, accusing them of blatantly asking him to show leniency towards the Indian Cricket Team over the slow over rates in several games. Broad, who used to be a familiar name among the match officials, also accused former BCCI President and Indian captain Sourav Ganguly of pressurising him to ‘do what he said.’

Broad called time on his decorated referring career in February last year after 20 years in service, and admits to being happy about not staying in that position, which he outright calls 'more political than it has ever been.'

“I was very happy to carry on,” Broad said in an interview with The Telegraph.

“But for 20 years, I dodged a lot of bullets, both politically and physically. I look back and I think, ‘you know, 20 years is quite a long time to be doing that job’. I’m pleased not to be travelling to certain parts of the world. And I was always someone who believed in right and wrong and in certain parts of the world it’s a bit like the River Ganges – right and wrong are so far apart and there’s a lot of dirty water in between them that you have to deal with, so I think as someone who comes from a right and wrong perspective, to last 20 years in that politically active environment is a pretty good effort,” he said of what he endured during his time as the ICC match referee.

Broad accuses Ganguly

Having served at the top position on a cricket field and dealt with who’s who of the cricket world, Broad pointed out a certain Ganguly for getting away with doing what he wanted to as a BCCI President. Accusing the ex-Indian skipper of never listening to the hurry-ups, Broad said,

“India were three, four overs down at the end of a game, so it constituted a fine. I got a phone call saying, ‘Be lenient, find some time because it’s India.' And it’s like, right, OK. So, we had to find some time, brought it down below the threshold. The very next game, exactly the same thing happened. He [Sourav Ganguly] didn’t listen to any of the hurry-ups, and so I phoned and said, ‘What do you want me to do now?’ and I was told, ‘Just do him.’

"So, there were politics involved, right from the start. A lot of the guys now are either politically more savvy or just keeping their heads below the parapet. I don’t know,” he continued.

Detailing on how after India got all the money and now power, and how they rule ICC and global cricket with their former BCCI secretary Jay Shah now chairing the ICC, Broad said,

“I think we were supported by Vince van der Bijl (ICC umpire’s manager) while he was in position because he came from a cricketing background, but once he left, the management became a lot weaker. India got all the money and have now taken over the ICC in so many ways. I’m pleased I’m not around because it’s a much more political position now than it ever has been.”