One of the very few in-depth profiles of N Srinivasan, the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), was published in August last year by Caravan, an Indian monthly journal.
In itself, it is revealing both of Srinivasan and how the world of cricket operates that so little is known about him and how he rose to become, until recently, the most powerful man in
cricket.
A telling anecdote emerges of his early years in India Cements, the company he heads and which has placed him in his current predicament.
In 1979, as deputy managing director, Srinivasan came under scrutiny from the company over what was seen as a questionable business deal.
A shareholders’ meeting was called to vote on Srinivasan’s future. But at the meeting, shareholders wasted time enough for the meeting to end without an actual vote. The meeting had been worked that way by Srinivasan, wrote Rahul Bhatia.
“This battle, and the complications that followed, bore several hallmarks of Srinivasan’s style — rule-manipulation, a talent for persuasion, and persistent allegations of political influence bolstering his business.”
It is tales such as these — and his career is littered with more — that explain why the day Srinivasan is forced out of cricket still seems unforeseeable.
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He should, of course, even if he is not directly involved in the corruption that has seen Chennai Super Kings (CSK) suspended for two years from the Indian Premier League.
He has overseen that debacle in three capacities: as head of India Cements, as owner of CSK and as the head of the Indian cricket board. He has also had uncomfortably close familial relations to one of the main culprits.
The ICC has not yet commented on the findings of the Lodha Committee, or the implications for its head.
Most likely it will continue to not comment. At a stretch it may offer a non-comment comment: “it is a domestic matter on which we do not comment,” or some such guff.
The ICC is not alone. No full member will say publicly that their organisation should not have such a man as its head.
In that same profile, a former board official who had worked with Srinivasan offered this nugget. “He knows only two things: He is either here ... ” he clutched his feet, “or here ...” he feigned a two-handed chokehold.”
That switch between oily obeisance and menacing domination is reminiscent of Zia ul Haq, the Pakistani army general who wormed his way up in the estimations of prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and then deposed of him, politically and mortally.
Srinivasan has both bought and bullied the silence of cricket. Would he have been allowed to in another sport with even a slightly aligned moral compass?
In men such as Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Srinivasan found not enablers but colluders.
It is a sport so ridden with self-interest that serious and deep issues of conflicts of interest and corruption are not cause for concern. See, as just one instance, the reaction of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to the findings of the Lodha Committee.
They formed a working committee to study those findings and report back. In six weeks. This for a case that has been roiling under their noses for over two years now, with several police investigations, one of their own and two independent investigations by supreme court justices.
Corruption in cricket, this thinking seems to say, is almost inevitable: no urgency is needed to deal with it.
It says, in fact, all that needs to be said about cricket that the only threat to Srinivasan’s position in the ICC comes from within the politicking churn of the BCCI.
It has no basis in any moral argument that it is not right for an ICC representative so tainted to continue.
The only way he was going to be removed was if the BCCI did not appoint him as their representative come September.
As a dispensation ostensibly hostile to Srinivasan has come into control, his removal was an active possibility.
Instead, recent reports seem to suggest that a compromise may have been worked out, which will allow Srinivasan to stay on for another year. It is the way of Srinivasan, and cricket does not mind one bit.
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How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
RESULTS
6.30pm: Maiden Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Superior, Connor Beasley (jockey), Ahmad bin Harmash (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap Dh 185,000 2,000m
Winner: Tried And True, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
7.40pm: Maiden Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Roy Orbison, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
8.15pm
Handicap Dh 190,000 1,400m
Winner: Taamol, Dane O’Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
8.50pm
Handicap Dh 175,000 1,600m
Winner: Welford, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
9.25pm: Handicap Dh 175,000 1,200m
Winner: Lavaspin, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
10pm: Handicap Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Untold Secret, Xavier Ziani, Sandeep Jadhav
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
