Two-tier proposal shelved at ICC meeting

[sunilreddy]

The proposal for a two-tier structure in Test cricket has been withdrawn by the ICC at the meeting of its chief executives committee in Dubai on Wednesday despite six Full Members reportedly being in favour of it. There was no vote at the meeting but the consensus was to take the proposal "off the table" for the moment.

"There was a significant compromise and it was subsequently decided to withdraw the two-tier proposal," a chief executive who attended the meeting told ESPNcricinfo. He said the BCCI, Sri Lanka Cricket, the BCB and Zimbabwe Cricket had opposed the proposal, which had found support from the boards of Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies.

ESPNcricinfo also confirmed with a second Full Member that the proposal was off for now..

According to the proposal, the two-tier system would comprise seven teams in the top tier and five in the bottom, with promotion and relegation between the two based on performance. To begin, Afghanistan and Ireland, as the leading Associate teams, would join the three lowest-ranked Test playing nations in the bottom tier, with other Associates having a chance at promotion based on performance.

On Monday, the players' global body FICA had revealed that 72% of players quizzed for the body's annual survey were in favour of "the introduction of a divisional Test competition to add more meaning to each match". The FICA executive chairman Tony Irish had urged the ICC Board to carefully consider the new model under consideration.

 

[Marius]

Another nail in the coffin of Test cricket.

 

[cnerd123]

Oh geez. So the BCCI disapproves with the support of two teams who would have ended up in Div 2 anyways, and one team who can't afford to pay their players without them.

This was literally a BCCI vs Rest Of The World dispute and the BCCI won. Ffs.

 

[cnerd123]

And really it makes perfect sense doesnt it? If other tests had meaning to them, then more people would watch them, and it would allow the other cricket boards to make more money off games not involving India. This reduces their dependance on India tours. And the BCCI cant let that happen can they?

Zzz.

 

[hendrix]

Oh geez. So the BCCI disapproves with the support of two teams who would have ended up in Div 2 anyways, and one team who can't afford to pay their players without them.

This was literally a BCCI vs Rest Of The World dispute and the BCCI won. Ffs.

yup.

 

[StephenZA]

Was not part of the BCCI`s complaint about the single pool of money.... has that also been shelved?

 

[harsh.ag]

And really it makes perfect sense doesnt it? If other tests had meaning to them, then more people would watch them, and it would allow the other cricket boards to make more money off games not involving India. This reduces their dependance on India tours. And the BCCI cant let that happen can they?

Zzz.

You may even have to scrap IPL one year in order to play a series to stave off relegation <gasp>

 

[OverratedSanity]

Well, that sucks.

 

[hendrix]

This article was published on Cricinfo a few days ago on the potential for Afghanistan to play tests:

"We think that we are ready to play Test cricket and we have proven that," Stanikzai told ESPNcricinfo in a recent interview. "Since we entered into the Intercontinental Cup arena, we were beaten only once. That was in the [2013] Intercontinental Cup final where we got beaten by Ireland but that's the only loss we have in a four-day game or multi-day game."

"We have a real good package for every single format of the game," he said. "If you have a look at the Afghanistan cricket team, we have almost a different squad for every single format. We have T20 specialists, we have ODI specialists, we have multi-day players, specialists not just in batting but in bowling as well. So we are carrying a different bunch of players in every single format we are playing."

Afghanistan also has a domestic four-day competition since 2014, which features teams from five regions, although this has not yet been assigned first-class status.

It's a massive shame this isn't happening within the next couple of years.

 

[harsh.ag]

BCCI have tried to position this as looking out for the little guy saying

"In the two-tier system, they will lose out on a lot, including revenue and the opportunity to play against top teams. We don't want that to happen. We want to work in the best interests of world cricket and that is why our team plays against all the countries."

Firstly, this ignores Ireland and Afghanistan. Secondly, India (and the other top sides) can still send their teams over to the Division 2 teams to play friendly matches, either full strength teams or an A-side.

 

[Furball]

So rather than create a structure that would allow Ireland and Afghanistan to potentially play Test cricket against the big boys in 10 years time, we ensure that they definitely won't be playing any Test cricket.

Not sure I follow the BCCI's logic here.

 

[91Jmay]

BCCI have tried to position this as looking out for the little guy saying

"In the two-tier system, they will lose out on a lot, including revenue and the opportunity to play against top teams. We don't want that to happen. We want to work in the best interests of world cricket and that is why our team plays against all the countries."

Firstly, this ignores Ireland and Afghanistan. Secondly, India (and the other top sides) can still send their teams over to the Division 2 teams to play friendly matches, either full strength teams or an A-side.

Yeah, those lucrative ODI series can go ahead still. Not like India/Sri Lanka are going to run out of playing ****ing JAMODIs against each other anytime soon is it?

 

[honestbharani]

Yeah.. the BCCI has changed, my foot

 

[TheJediBrah]

And huge surprise that the 3 boards that voted with India were ones that were likely to get relegated to division 2

 

[OverratedSanity]

How many votes did it need to pass anyway?

Also, I'm pleasantly surprised the west indies board voted for it considering they'd be a lock for tier 2.

 

[TheJediBrah]

How many votes did it need to pass anyway?

1 vote

India's

 

[Daemon]

There was no vote read the OP

 

[OverratedSanity]

I was confused because it says "no vote" but then says there was a "consensus" to shelve it. wut. And then it also went on to list which boards were in favour of the split and which weren't.

 

[cnerd123]

Yea, basically they all talked about it, everyone except the BCB and ZCA liked it, but then the BCCI went 'nah', the BCCI's bitch then went 'nah' too, and the talk went from how everyone liked it to instead agreeing that they should shelve the discussion and not bring it up again.

****ing BCCI

 

[Furball]

Yea, basically they all talked about it, everyone except the BCB and ZCA liked it, but then the BCCI went 'nah', the BCCI's bitch then went 'nah' too, and the talk went from how everyone liked it to instead agreeing that they should shelve the discussion and not bring it up again.

****ing BCCI

I'm not blaming the BCCI for that, nothing wrong with them opposing it. It's the capitulation of everyone else that's annoying.