Bland evasions and spin left MPs in the dark about the thinking which prompted the ruling body to waste millions on a punt
A few years back the former boss of Barclays, Bob Diamond, gave a masterclass in how not to appear before a Commons select committee. He turned up in an electric green tie that almost strobed on screen. He wittered on about himself. He patronised his interrogators. And he had no conception of convincing denial about whatever scandal it was that Barclays had got themselves into at the time. He was a disaster.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which appears to have a much larger bureaucracy than any piddling bank, did not make these mistakes. Led by the chairman, Colin Graves, and Tom Harrison, the suave chief executive, they did it right. They were respectful and courteous. They exhausted the Thesaurus with adulatory synonyms about their own achievements – “phenomenal” was the favourite. And they swerved the difficult questions with practised skill.
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