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| October 20, 2001 | Saturday | Shaba'an 2, 1422 |
Neutral venues get thumbs up
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19: Cricket Tests affected by the on-going war against terrorism will be moved to independent venues, the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided here Friday.
Pakistan and India are likely to be the hardest hit because they neighbour war-torn Afghanistan, ICC president Malcolm Gray said.
But England will go to India next month as scheduled, he said.
The ruling adopted at an ICC executive meeting here allows for a match or series to be rescheduled to the opposing team’s country or a neutral ground.
With the decision to move venues, he said even non-Test countries such as Malaysia which possess suitable facilities, may be able to host internationals.
“In agreeing to use independent venues, the board was totally supportive of the countries affected by the recent horrific events and unanimous that every effort should be made to assist them,” said Gray.
If a match or series cannot be played at a home venue, it may now be resheduled to the opposing team’s country or to a neutral venue.
One of the biggest problems with moving fixtures was how it would affect television coverage and advertising.
“We must enter into discussions with the television right holders,” he said.
“The possibility of a rival company getting the rights in a different country is high but here we appeal to the companies on humantarian grounds.
“For instance, we may have to shift Pakistan’s future matches if the current situation persists. As it stands now, nearly all sporting activity in that country is at a standstill.”
Countries who refuse to fulfil their tour obligations will be fined up to $2 million which will be paid to the affected country. The two Test championship points for a winning series will be awarded to the home country while the side refusing to tour will be deducted two points.
“Countries would be exempt from penalties if fixtures were cancelled due to natural disaster, war or where the safety of players and officials was proven to be at risk,” an ICC statement said.
“The new system will be enforced by binding contract, signed by all member countries.”
Gray said the decision reflected the priority given to protecting the Test calendar.
“We have to be tough in protecting the integrity of the future tours programme from wilful disruption, hence the introduction of these severe financial and points deduction penalties,” he said.
The ICC excutive board Friday also discussed deteriorating standards of player behaviour and agreed to a principle of a three of four stage disciplinary system with set penalties for each stage.
The system is expected to be formally approved at an executive meeting next March and will take effect in April.
“Improving on-field discipline is a major priority and the new system will add greatly to the authority and consistency of decision making that we will ask of the match referees,” ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed said.
The board also agreed in principle to a one-day international championship as well as the World Cup.
Gray said the championship would ensure that if a five-match series is decided after the third game, the remaining two matches will be competitive.
“All results of all matches will go into a database where we will compile the results to rank teams. This will ensure that teams do not throw away their matches after taking a winning lead and also help prevent fixing of matches,” he explained.
The winner of the 2003 World Cup will receive approximately $2.2 million from a total prize fund of $5 million. The tournament will feature 54 matches spread over 15 locations, 12 in South Africa, two in Zimbabwe and one in Kenya.
A progress report was given for each of the 24 recommendations in Paul Condon’s Anti-Corruption Unit report and several extra recommendations were approved.
These included creating ethics committees in national teams and drafting sports corruption legislation for presentation to the governments of all full member countries for consideration as part of each country’s legislation.
A three-man delegation will visit Kenya shortly to review the African nation’s application for test match status.—AFP/Reuters
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