Almost since its inception, 71 years ago, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has functioned along conservative lines. On the face of it, there is nothing wrong with adopting a traditional approach. But the danger here is that one is bound to be rather backward in keeping up with the progressive changes in the game. And in this, there is little doubt that the BCCI has shown an appalling lack of knowledge of the growth and development the game has made worldwide.

Over the years, much of the criticism of the board's functioning has centred around one issue - a lack of professionalism in its approach. While other countries have paid administrators, officials and executives, BCCI functionaries continue to have the suffix `honorary' before their designation. Now, there is nothing wrong in doing honorary work. The officials are no doubt dedicated to the game and the players - though there are times when the petty mindedness of some administrators would seem to suggest that they do not possess even this basic quality. Still a certain professional touch was lacking.

In recent times the call to make the board's functioning more professional has grown strident. Seeing at close quarters how some of the national cricket boards in other countries were functioning, the disparity in the working became even more obvious. The need to have paid officials and executives - professional experts in the field as it were - became apparent. ``Appoint them, pay them well and then hold them responsible if they do not deliver'' was the refrain.

The proverbial last straw came about a couple of weeks ago when Kapil Dev complained that the board was not professional. Taking a swipe at the BCCI for messing up the game, the former Indian captain and current coach said ``if the board had acted earlier (in the match fixing case), the game's reputation would not have suffered. It's a consequence of the board not being in the hands of professionals. It's no use having honorary people who have other jobs to do and are not accountable to anyone.''

Whether Kapil's outburst has something to do with the latest development or not may be a debatable point. But it does seem to be a case of better late than never. And the board would appear to have woken up from its long slumber if the newspaper ads published simultaneously all over the country on Wednesday are any indication. ``The Board of Control for Cricket in India, in line with their ambitious cricket promotion plans, is planning to strengthen their office at Mumbai by inducting excellent, dynamic and result oriented professionals for various functions,'' goes the ad. The posts for which applications have been invited are general manager - media, manager-administration and commercial, executive (umpiring), cricket analyst, executive (international cricket) and executive (domestic cricket).

It is well known that the board's image has suffered through the lack of a professional mediaman. The duties of the general manager - media have been listed as planning and conducting meets and conferences, co- ordinating with press and outside agencies and image building and publicity. Image building! Well, the board certainly needs it, even if one might add that the appointed person would certainly have a job on his hands!

Lack of proper co-ordination has also been a bane of the BCCI. The appointment of the manager - administration and commercial could go a long way to solve the problem. The duties listed include negotiating contracts, financial planning, budgeting and accounting, conducting feasibility studies on proposals and co-ordination with internal and external agencies on the above subjects.

Umpiring has been one of the neglected aspects in the board, despite having various sub-committees. It is hoped that the appointment of an executive (umpiring) will go some way in making things better on this front. His duties include co-ordination of all umpiring activities, co-ordination for training and development of umpires and all other arrangements for umpiring.

A cricket analyst would appear to be a rather specialised post. Naturally enough, his functioning is manifold - collection of statistical information on various domestic and international matches, processing of statistical information, preparation of various analytical reports and co-ordination with various associations and other boards.

The posts of executive (international cricket) and executive (domestic cricket) have more specific duties. The former is responsible for the arrangement for international tours, co-ordination of all international tournaments and co-ordination with the manager/coach of the tour while the latter is responsible for the arrangement for domestic tours and co-ordination of all domestic tournaments.

``Candidates with inherent interest and aptitude towards cricket will suit. Salary is negotiable'' concludes the ad. Well, so finally a start has been made by the board towards professionalism. But then the executives and managers who will be appointed to the posts will also have to be given a free hand while performing their professional duties. BCCI administrators should remember that with these people in their respective posts, they are dealing with professionals, experts in their various fields. If the `honorary' board officials then interfere with their functioning, stifle their dynamism, tie their hands behind their backs and make it frustrating for them to perform their duties, it would serve no purpose. Such a petty minded approach would see to it that the BCCI will continue to be in a rut while other progressive and professional national boards around the worldwide make handsome progress.

© CricInfo