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ICC has done little for cricket: Chappell

Former Australian captain Ian Chappel is of the opinion that the International Cricket Council has done little towards the betterment of international cricket.

Participating in a panel discussion on whether the ICC should control the nature of pitches worldwide, along with former stars Ravi Shastri and David Hookes, Chappell said the ICC had remained non-effective when it came to contributing to the growth of the game. He said the council, which was reportedly contemplating appointing observers for picthes world-wide, should not go ahead with its plan but rather, allow local curators to make pitches for Test matches.

He said when it concerned variables such as local climate, local grass and soil, then local people should be employed for making pitches and there was no need to import foreigners to do the job, for which they would in any event have little or no know-how.

He, however, said that the game certainly didn't need pitches where the game ended inside of three days.

"I like the system in Australia where a groundsman is in charge of pitches, if he did not do his job, then he could be replaced," said Chappell, averring that in his playing career, he had never seen a pitch which was "unplayable".

Recalling the Delhi Test match in 1969 at the Firozeshah Kotla, when he played under Bill Lawry, Chappell said it was a challenge for the batsmen to prove their superiority on a pitch which was turning right from the first day of play. "Batsmen should accept such challenges, rather than blame the curators," he pointed out, arguing that a wicket could not be described as 'bad' simply because it turned from day one.