ICC CEO David Richardson said that while cricket needs the likes of Virat Kohli and Ben Stokes, it also needs an MS Dhoni or Rahul Dravid as a balancing act. Richardson, while giving his MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture on Monday, said that cricket needs its “larger than life characters” and its more mellow exponents so as to “stay on the good side of that line.”
“On the field the cricket needs its larger than life characters. Its Colin Milburns, Freddie Flintoffs, Shane Warnes, Virat Kohlis, Ben Stokes but we equally it needs its Frank Worrells, its Mahendra Singh Dhonis, its Rahul Dravids, its Colin Cowdreys to make sure that we all stay in the good side of that line,” said Richardson.
The former South African wicketkeeper also touched upon the topic of players and coaches questioning decisions made by officials. “Too many coaches or team managers of recent times are too quick to side with their players, blame the umpires for being biased against their team, storming off to the match referee’s room to complain,” he said. “Winning must obviously be the aim of any game but not at all costs, not when it means compromising the integrity of the game.”
