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Source: Reuters -
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India's cricket connections sought to flex their financial
muscle in New Zealand again on Tuesday, as broadcaster Sony
Entertainment Television attempted to push the start time for
Wednesday's three-Test cricket series back an hour.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) resisted the request to start the match
at Seddon Park at midday but negotiations are continuing in
relation to the timing of the second and third Tests in Napier and
Wellington.
Play has long been scheduled to begin at 11am (NZT) in Hamilton,
while 10.30am is the current start time at McLean Park and the
Basin Reserve.
Sony representatives made a last minute appeal for a midday start
so they could maximise viewership in the sub-continent.
However, if the change went ahead the first ball would still have
been delivered at the unsociable hour of 4.30am in India.
A later start time for the remainder of the series, midday means
plays continues to 7pm, could have implications in regard to light
quality.
McLean Park, venue of the second Test between March 26-30,
has floodlights but the Basin Reserve does not. Daylight
saving also kicks in part way through the final match which is
scheduled for April 3-7.
Earlier this summer, the two-test series against the West Indies
started at midday to satisfy Sony, who last year signed a
multi-million dollar broadcasting deal with NZC to beam New
Zealand's internationals to India.
The request for a time change is the latest example of Sony and/or
the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) exerting their
power during this tour.
Last week both organisations demanded Sky TV remove former
international Craig McMillan from its commentary team for Napier
test because of his links to the Indian Cricket League (ICL) -- a
rival to the BCCI-backed Indian Premier League Twenty20
competition.
McMillan, who plays for the ICL's Royal Bengal Tigers, was
pencilled in as a replacement for Ravi Shastri when the former
Indian international goes home before returning for the Wellington
Test.
McMillan's presence behind the microphone is yet to be confirmed
but Sky's acting executive producer for cricket, James Cameron, has
said he did not believe the channel should be dictated to.
The BCCI's stance towards any players with ICL connections
was evident early in the tour when Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh
Karthik were withdrawn from a Masters Twenty20 game in Wellington
because former ICL player Hamish Marshall was involved.
They also ensured Test players designated for match practice in the
domestic four-day competition did not play for or against Auckland
or Northern Districts because Marshall and former pace bowler Daryl
Tuffey were on those provincial rosters.
