Tim May has resigned as the chief of cricket’s international players’ union as his frustration with the sport’s powerbrokers finally boiled over.
May’s resignation from the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) comes less than a month after he controversially lost his position on the International Cricket Council (ICC) cricket committee to Indian television commentator Laxman Sivaramakrishnan.
The former Australia Test spinner, a FICA member for 16 years and chief since 2005, said he was tired of battling an Indian-dominated ICC board, one he claimed was unwilling to make governance changes recommended by the Woolf Report.
“Cricket increasingly seems to be pushing aside the principles of transparency, accountability, independence and upholding the best interests of the global game, in favour of a system that appears to operate through threats, intimidation and backroom deals,” May said in a statement.
“The players deserve better.
“Increasingly, the administrators of the game seek to force out or alienate those who question its alleged misuse of power, or those who seek greater transparency, or provide rational argument against the ills of the administration.
“It appears that some administrators just don’t want to be held to account to the standards that are expected of them … the current system is failing us.”
The Woolf report was the ICC’s independent governance review headed by Lord Woolf. It called for sweeping changes in the administration of cricket and the running of its governing body.
