Indian cricketers better beware as the English Cricket Team have been banned from Twitter and Facebook by the English Cricket Board. Sachin Tendulkar, who joined Twitter recently, has a fan following of over 590 thousand. As compared to this, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, and Steve Finn have only 150 thousand odd followers combined. However, the ECB has banned the English team from Twitter and Facebook. If the BCCI decide to take a cue from their English counterparts, Sachin, along with Yuvraj and Zaheer, better watch out.
ECB’s view
The ECB is taking a stand against the social networking sites in order to prevent dressing room secrets and other information discussed behind closed doors from reaching the public through such sites. The team management also want players to focus on practice and on matches while playing for the country. English captain Andrew Strauss has also supported the ECB’s decision.
Players’ view
The English players believe that tweeting or facebooking are really harmless activities which help cricketers connect to their fans, and at the same time increasing commercial opportunities by mentioning sponsors on these websites. Kevin Pietersen and Graeme Swann are prolific tweeters and like to tweet on their way to practice or matches.
Our view
Both sides have valid arguments. If we look at the situation from ECB’s point of view, they ought to have such concerns after an under-19 English player badmouthed the coach through Twitter. Closer to home, the Kolkata Knight Riders were baffled by a blogger who claimed to be a player on their roster and continued to blog about the team. Tweeting is much easier than blogging and thus poses a bigger threat.
From the players point of view, we do agree that it is a harmless activity. You interact with fans, let them know what you are up to, and in the process increase your market value. The players’ views have been bolstered by advisers from the Players Cricket Association who believe that existing regulations regarding social networking are more than sufficient to punish a player breaking these rules.
What is your view?
