Sports

Ind vs Eng: Stick cricket

Brit newspapers find unique way to protest BCCI’s decision to ban certain photo agencies from covering the series

Posted On Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 10:09:46 AM

TIME FOR A TOSS: MS Dhoni (left) guesses correctly and India choose to bat. Alastair Cook doesn’t look happy.The Telegraph is publishing these drawings instead of live pictures from the first Test in protest at the Indian cricket board’s (BCCI) refusal to give access to certain picture agencies which we view as a restriction on the freedom of the press. All other UK media groups are taking the same steps (although their captions might be funnier.)

The British media used their Friday editions to pass cutting judgment on the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s decision to ban certain photo agencies from covering the series between India and England.

GAMBHIR DISMISSAL: Diagram showing movement of batsman Gambhir as he steppedback and away from G Swann’s arm ball, exposing his off stump.Wicketkeeper Matt Prior is pictured without his hands as they are hard to draw and, in his case, redundant anyway

JA BRUV, I CAUGHT IT: Jonathan Trott catches ball, drops ball and then claims he held ball

ARMCHAIR CRICKET: An accurate representation of what Sir Ian Botham’s field settings would be if he was captain

FEELING THE LOVE: Kevin Pietersen does his best to take Yuvraj’s wicket before lunch, but to no avail as India reached 410-4

The BCCI banning Getty Images and Action Images on the grounds that they don’t provide photographs exclusively for editorial use resulted in other international agencies – including Reuters, Press Association, AP and AFP – boycotting the Ahmedabad Test.
On Friday, a few leading British papers made a statement by using alternate imagery, ranging from quirky stick figures to men in wigs, with their match-day coverage, while many others carried the reports without any photographs.

The BCCI, not exactly known for their sense of humour, is unlikely to realise that the joke’s on them.

While rejecting their accreditation requests, the board said news organizations could download match photographs from their own website, but none of the agencies or newspapers want to go down that path, fearing that it will open the door to censorship (would the BCCI release a picture of an Indian cricketer flipping his finger at the crowd?).

News Media Coalition (NMC), a campaigner for media freedom around the world, said that it deplored the BCCI’s ban.

“The NMC has urged the BCCI to withdraw the policy which will hit media coverage, fans and the sponsors involved with teams,” an NMC statement released before the Test match read.

None of this is likely to rattle the Indian board though, adept as they are at using a conveniently malleable notion of conflicts of interest where news coverage is concerned.

In 2009, the IPL faced a similar boycott after the board asked agencies not to provide photos to cricket websites, as they had signed an exclusive agreement to provide news and photos of that edition exclusively to a website.

News channels were similarly incensed when the board introduced restrictions on how much footage they could use for their bulletins. Leading website Cricinfo has been banned from press enclosures in India since 2008 – around the time the board launched their own website.

Utopia for the Indian board is a world in which they’d put coverage rights up for sale on a Monday, bid for them on Wednesday, and wrap up a good week’s work by winning said rights on Friday.

‘Indian Board Wins Rights to Everything’ will be the big story of the day. Exclusive, of course, on their own website; and maybe on their brand new BCCI TV channel; and who knows, even in their very own newspaper. Chew on that while we practice our doodling skills.

APOPLECTIC: Swann shows his feelings after Matt Prior drops Sehwag

PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS: Tim Bresnan gets smacked all over the place by Virender Sehwag

STAND-OUT: The Indian TV director seemed very keen on this one woman in the crowd... Here’s what she looked like

Guardian Day 1

Live Test cricket from Ahmedabad. Possibly. The BCCI, in their boundless wisdom, have decided to refuse to allow certain picture agencies access to the ground.

So the Guardian, along with other UK media groups, is not publishing live pictures from the first Test in protest.

Instead we got Mike Selvey to snap this on his phone.

Guardian Day 2

Because the BCCI have refused to allow certain picture agencies access to the ground, the Guardian, along with other UK media groups, is not publishing live pictures from the first Test in protest.

Instead, we’ve asked Ian Botham, David Gower and these four young lads to give us some idea of what they think today’s action might look like.

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