The one with the Ten Commandments.

The Cricket Slouch

In this episode I sit with Nitesh of the Broken Cricket Dreams blog to discuss his Open Letter to BCCI and the Ten Commandments a few friends and I came up with in 2011. Although this is specifically targeted at the BCCI and Indian cricket in general, I suppose the template can fit any team as we have seen from England's example. The Ten Commandments are - 1) To get rid of partial, biased zonal selectors and impose limitations on tenure based on results.2) Personnel at the top, such as coaches, to be based on qualifications, and to consider different coaches for tests and ODIs. Also having at least one former cricketer on the Board.3) Preparing a diverse range of pitches and having at least two major national venues to assist pace, and at least one in every State.4) Improvement in resources for the domestic games, optimising facilities at NCA and collaborating with specialists such as MRF Pace academy.5) Selection of the team based on form rather than reputation, no automatic for seniors.6) Horses for courses policy in selecting the playing XI and to be flexible with this depending on venue.7) Regular matches overseas and home for the Colts and A sides.8) Transition pathway for emerging players to make it to the national side, and using series against weaker teams to test them out.9) Encouraging players to play in the county league, or similar, to gain valuable experience. 10) To plan for major tournaments and series about a year in advance and to breed a mentality of winning and team-comes-first attitude. Nitesh is found on Twitter @cricket_broken , and his blog is at brokencricketdeams.com I am on @cricketing_convPodcast artwork courtesy of Noman and Umangi.