The ICC chief executive David Richardson warned that the growing popularity of the domestic Twenty20 leagues like the IPL, Big Bash and CPL are threatening the survival of bilateral series with the exception of Ashes and big-ticket tours involving India.
To arrest the decline of bilateral series, Richardson said a number of possibilities were discussed at the ICC annual conference in Barbados in June and would again be one of the highlights at the next Board meeting in October.
“Apart from series such as the Ashes — which has an iconic, traditional status — and series between India and the top Full Members, many bilateral series are perceived as having little relevance. Attendance in most series, especially for Test cricket, have fallen and the revenues generated from these series are not growing.
Richardson also revealed a possible solution that the administrators were thinking was about creating qualifying leagues for both Test and ODIs, an idea that had the support of all the powerful members of the ICC Board.
“Scheduling more tri-series, creating a brand around the FTP and around individual series, creating a fresh brand for the ODI format itself (World Cup Cricket for example, as Wally Edwards is proposing), creation of Test or ODI World Cup Qualifying leagues. These are all ideas that need to be considered and discussed.
“They have been mooted before, but now with the involvement of Mr. N Srinivasan as Chairman, the BCCI, ECB, CA and the other Members, these issues are being seriously looked at,” he said.
“We are just in discussions at the moment. Michael Holding has spoken about a Test league of two divisions; others have previously suggested a six-and-four teams format. But first the principles and then the detail needs to be debated and agreed. I think it is achievable if all the Full Members think it is worthwhile and want it to happen,” Richardson explained.
The chief executive, however, clarified that any league system would be independent of the ICC ranking.
“The debate on leagues is still in the drawing board phase, but even if leagues were introduced, the rankings would still coexist. The ICC rankings will always be there. Take international football, for example, they have qualifying leagues for the FIFA World Cup and Continental tournaments, separate to the world rankings,” concluded Richardson.
