Fleming and the BCCI trade punches

From Cricinfo, 4 November 2003

Stephen Fleming has spoken out strongly against the scheduling of the ongoing triangular series, the TVS Cup. He has said that Australia and New Zealand have been made to play more day matches, and the quality of the pitches in some of them has been such that the toss virtually decided the match.

SK Nair, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has reacted to this by saying that the New Zealand board was aware of the scheduling and the conditions, and if Fleming has a problem, he should approach his own board.

"They've got it wrong," Fleming had said earlier. "You can't start this early with wickets like this, there's no point. We've been on the wrong side of it twice and it makes the next game a lottery too.

"There's two competitions going on - one for us and Australia where it seams around and is tough to bat and India lay another one where it gets lower and slower then turns. I wonder who did that itinerary."

New Zealand lost the toss against Australia at both Faridabad and Pune, and their top order was blown away in both games on a grassy pitch, in early morning conditons. They were all out for 97 at Faridabad, and though they did recover at Pune, the damage had already been done.

"So much rides on the toss," said Fleming. "At least in New Zealand it seams for 100 overs, here it seams for 25 and after that it's a belter. I've talked to Ricky Ponting and he's not happy either because we know how crucial the toss is."

Ponting backed up Fleming, saying, "They're trying to better their wickets for the standard of their own cricket but they've just left too much juice in them for one-day cricket," Ponting said.

"When you are starting at that time of the morning it is bound to swing, and the wickets have had life in them which is tough for the side batting first."

Nair replied to Fleming outburst by saying, "He [Fleming] should ask his own Board [about the scheduling]." He said that both teams had been had been presented with the itinerary a month before the series began on October 23, and that neither team had raised any objections.

Nair also asserted that not all venues in the country have floodlight facilities, and that day-night games were allotted on " a rotational basis".