There have been disputes aplenty between cricket players and administrators over the years. Some have seen careers ended and lifelong grudges formed. When large egos in suits clash with professional sportsmen who are paid to dig their heels in and who do not take defeat well, it is bound to get messy. The suits have won far more of these clashes than they have lost, but the landscape has changed. Whereas there was secrecy and private money in boardrooms, there is now procedure and accountability — supposedly. Whereas players used to shout and protest, and then get dropped and sacked, they now have official recourse to labour law and representation that protects their rights — supposedly. The atmosphere at the Cobras is one of the more toxic I have encountered in the past 30 years, involving stubbornness of the most intractable sort and levels of resentment and anger that will take months if not years to dissipate. It is still the players who suffer most during these disputes and it ...

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