Departing IPL auctioneer Richard Madley is hurt by BCCI’s way of bidding him goodbye

Veteran auctioneer Richard Madley, who was perhaps the only constant in the functioning of the Indian Premier League (IPL) since its inception in 2008, found himself getting “dropped” ahead of the 12th edition of the tournament starting in March next year and it did leave him with a sour taste in the mouth. The veteran auctioneer, who expressed his discontinuation in his role on a lighter note on Twitter recently, has now questioned the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over its decision to axe him and called it “illogical” that “deflated” him.

The BCCI announced its decision to ‘drop’ the 60-year-old Madley on Wednesday and that he would be replaced by Hug Edmeades, an independent fine art, classic car and charity auctioneer. The decision created a stir on social media as demands grew to bring Madley back to where he was. The auction for the 2019 edition of the IPL will be held in Jaipur on December 18.

A shock for Madley

Speaking to CricketNext, Madley said: “I’m sad, disappointed and a little bit let down and deflated. It’s not my decision, it’s the decision of the BCCI combined with IMG. It has come as a bit of a shock to me after 11 unbroken years of conducting the auction and always receiving positive comments and feedback from the franchise owners, administrators, BCCI and my many fans. It has come as a bolt out of the blue – to be released, to use an IPL term – without reason or explanation.”

Madley also expressed shock over the fact that he was not being replaced by an Indian auctioneer but one from Britain from where he too belongs and also older than him. “…I was surprised when my replacement is a British auctioneer, older than me, more grey hairs, heavier!”

About his successor, Madley said he has known Edmeades for many years but added that the latter had little experience of IPL. He said he was hurt to see that he was being replaced by a man who was almost his mirror image in the business of auctioneering. The man was also upset with the fact that the BCCI did not bother to give an explanation over its decision.

He said conducting the IPL auction was a part of his DNA but doubted that he would be back to its fold again.

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