Two few in Mumbai cricket polls

These are the best of times for former cricketers to have a say in the administration of the game in their respective state associations But when it comes to Mumbai cricket which no association can match when it comes to the sheer number of international players produced 73 including deceased cricketers the feeble number of firstclass players contesting the elections is stunningOnly two mdash esrtwhile leftarm spinner Ravi Thakkar and allrounder Amit Dani mdash have thrown their hat in for a place on the managing committee Dilip Vengsarkar who performed several roles in Mumbai cricket save the fact that he was never voted to be president of his association was spot on when he expressed displeasure at the stature of some of the candidatesAll elections dont need to be high profile but if people are going to guide the fortunes of the premier cricket association in the country they must be armed with interest in cricket administration over a good period of timeAn exMumbai captain told to me how he had made a suggestion to a powerful former MCA president that the constitution should be amended to rule out people mdash politicians included mdash who suddenly want to get into cricket administration Anyone desiring to became an administrator must attend at least two MCA Annual General Meetings the cricketer told the president A positive result of that suggestion has not seen the light of day and it shouldnt be surprising that the current list of candidates is punctuated with debutantsEntry of politicians shouldnt be viewed with total cynicism though To some extent an association requires people with clout But waking up one day realising the amount of mileage and fame cricket administration can provide and then entering the fray does not exactly paint a picture of genuine interest for the all right reasonsThe 2019 MCA elections could well be called the polls of the unknowns The Lodha Committee recommendations ensured a lot of veterans stood disqualified and that could be the reason for so many new faces Yet there should have been more than just two former firstclass cricketers contesting the polls That not one international player from Mumbai is keen on putting his neck on the line and challenge the nonplayers means there is something wrong in Mumbai cricket Are players made to feel unwelcome Have they given up on the association Do they just dont care anymore Or was the time too short to make a decision to contest Take your pickRecalling some MCA elections what stood out then were the big names who were part of the polls Those were preConflict of Interest days so Sandeep Patil could stand for a place on the managing committee in the 1996 elections even though he was coaching the senior Indian team Patil won despite not being around to campaign Vengsarkar was making his elections debut hoping to be elected as one of the two vicepresidents at a time when he was chief selector of the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team as well as part of the associations adhoc committeeAjit Wadekar who had quit as coach of Mohammed Azharuddins team after the 1996 World Cup was in the fray as a vicepresident candidate backed by the Manohar Joshi group Wadekar was wily in most matters winning over the voters too But as a manager of a maidan club then I tried hard to ward off my cynicism when he uttered these words in the buildup to the elections I dont think we have good rapport with the maidan clubs which have produced some great players for Mumbai We think of them only at the time of elections The maidans are in shambles and something has to be done to improve conditionsOther Test cricketers in the fray that year were Ramakant Desai Sudhir Naik Suru Nayak the late international umpire Dara Dotiwalla and firstclass players like Sanjay Jaywant and the late Subhash BandiwadekarThe AGM was held while the votes were being counted Vengsarkar seated in the F amp G block of the Wankhede Stadium among the cricketing fraternity and voters couldnt wait for the results even as club secretaries voiced their yearlong grievances to the big wigs of the association on the dais I saw him leave and he was anywhere except the F amp G block when the results were announced He lost and the following morning he resigned as chief selector I have decided to resign from these committees on principle If the voters have not voted for me I dont think it is right for me to continue Vengsarkar told meMeanwhile Wadekar triumphed and so did Desai Interestingly Wadekar had to announce his own name as a winner since Chief Minister Manohar Joshi elected unopposed as president had to leave midway for a functionAnother oddity of those elections concerned Patil He claimed 174 votes the same figure as his highest score in Test cricket achieved against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 1981AR Kudroli that great torchbearer for the cause of maidan cricket was elected Joint Secretary just like Prof Ratnakar Shetty who would go on serve Mumbai and Indian cricket for a long period of time Of course Shetty had made his MCA debut way back in 1990Without being judgmental on the work ethic of presentday administrators one must reproduce what Kudroli told me after his victory I am very happy with the result but the work starts nowIf all the victorious candidates at tomorrows MCA elections echo this view Mumbai cricket will be strong again Far too many former firstclass players want to see city cricket in good shape again even though they are only two in number in the list of candidatesmiddays group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paperCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates