Mumbai Cricket Association ousted from BCCI's full membership

What’s the story?

In a major administration development, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) have lost their full membership in BCCI after the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) finalised an amendment in Memorandum of Rules and Regulations within the board. As a result, they will not have voting rights until the next annual cycle.

BCCI’s amended constitution reads, “Each State shall be represented by a state cricket association duly recognised by the BCCI and such associations shall be Full Members. No State shall have more than one Full Member at any given point of time.

“In States with multiple Existing Members, the full membership shall rotate annually among such Existing Members such that only one of them will exercise the rights and privileges of a Full Member at any given point of time. The rotation shall be as per the policy framed by the BCCI.”

The Context

Governing the Mumbai team in India’s domestic circuit, MCA have been one of the powerful member organisations of the BCCI. With Mumbai being record 41-time Ranji Trophy champions, the association’s influence within national circles was quite far-reaching.

However, the CoA have decided to bring in an one-state-one-vote rule to facilitate transparency and equality in the country’s cricket administration.

The heart of the matter

Owing to their large territories and talent pools, states like Maharashtra and Gujarat field multiple teams in India’s domestic arena. Apart from MCA, Maharashtra Cricket Association and Vidarbha Cricket Association have local bodies in the state. Meanwhile, Gujarat state also comprises of Saurashtra Cricket Association and Baroda Cricket Association.

In this regard, Maharashtra Cricket Association and Gujarat Cricket Association will get to represent their respective states in the current cycle even as the other member constituents are set to lose voting rights in the current cycle. The new CoA ruling also sees founder members Cricket Club of India (CCI), National Cricket Club (NCC) as well as government organisations Railways, Services and Universities miss out on Full Membership.

What’s next?

The likes of Mumbai, Vidarbha, Saurashtra and Baroda will spend the current annual cycle as Associate Members. As they won't have voting rights, these associations may not be able to influence key BCCI decisions. Some of the new entrants in the Full Member list include Bihar, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya.

Author’s Take

Considering Mumbai is very much the nerve centre of Indian cricket, the change of rules may signal a shift in the dynamics of BCCI. While the CoA’s earnest intention is to spread the game’s tentacles far and wide in the country, they could have made exceptions for long-standing associations such as MCA.