"They're Playing Mind Game": Allan Border Slams BCCI Proposal To Postpone Sydney Test
Updated - 09 Oct 2020, 02:41 PM
Australia legend Allan Border has slammed his cricket board and urged them not to bow down to BCCI’s proposal of postponing the Sydney Test. The visiting board has sent out a proposal to the hosts to postpone the Sydney Test to January 7, which usually begins in the first week of the new year.
Border is unhappy with the demand as he feels that the schedule should not be negotiated if the visiting board wants extra days off between the Boxing Day and the New Year’s Test match. He also added the back-to-back Tests works as a treat through the Christman and New York Period and he wold be uncomfortable to re-schedule it.
They consider themselves the strength of world cricket: Allan Border
Border also took a dig at the visiting board and said that they are playing mind games as they consider themselves the strength of world cricket. He also maintained that if roles were reversed they would have not had much say in the itinerary.
“I don’t think it should be a negotiated scenario. If it’s necessary because of what is happening globally with the virus then fair enough, but if it’s just because they want a bit of a spell off between Boxing Day and the New Year’s Test match then that’s rubbish,” Border told Fox Sports News.
“We’ve been doing this for how many years now, back-to-back Test matches? It works a treat through that Christmas-New Year period and I wouldn’t be comfortable with it moving just because India want a couple more days off,” he added.
“I think they’re just playing mind games. They consider themselves the strength of world cricket, and financially that is the case so they do have a fair say in things.But if the roles were reversed, we wouldn’t have much say in the itinerary, it would just be put in front of us and these are the dates that we’re going to play.”
India’s tour Down Under is the most-anticipated series’ for Cricket Australia after the pandemic situation has hit the normal schedule. The board has made special arrangements for the series, including the bio-bubble, as the traditional four-Test series will help them to recover from the losses due to non-commencement of matches.
The hosting board has been hit by a major turmoil in the recent past, and it continues to worsen. The tussle between the cricket board and Channel 7 has taken another turn as reports suggest that a legal arbitration being pursued by the broadcaster owing to a ‘breach of contract’ by the board for ‘delivering a product not equal in quality to what was delivered the previous year’.
According to the original schedule, the first of four-match series between Australia and India will get underway from December 3 in the bio-bubble. The final Test will conclude on January 7, 2021 which will be followed with a three-match ODI series. Though an official schedule is yet to be announced.
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