June 20, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 15, 1429

LAHORE, June 19: The International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Thursday it will be exploring options to preserve interest in five-day Tests in the face of the growing popularity of Twenty20 matches.

The options, including proposals to a hold Test championship, will be discussed by the ICC when its board meets in Dubai from June 29, its acting chief executive Dave Richardson said.

Experts say the fast-rising Twenty20 format, with just 40 overs per match and a huge crowd-puller, is putting the future of Tests and 50-over One-day Internationals in danger.

Besides two Twenty20 leagues in India — one backed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the other by a private group — Texan billionaire Allen Stanford recently launched his own league pitting an all-star West Indian team against England.

Other countries like Pakistan and Australia are also keen to launch their own Twenty20 leagues.

“I am certainly in favour of looking at options to make sure that we provide a really good quality context for Test cricket to take place so that it can be preserved as the pinnacle of the game,” stated Richardson.

He and other ICC officials, including President Ray Mali, were here for Wednesday’s official launch of the Champions Trophy, which Pakistan will host in September.

“The ICC will be considering a number of options in the upcoming board meetings, one of which is to introduce a Test championship or league. There are so many ways this could be done, a league over one year, two years or four years, the details have yet to be worked out.”

Richardson, a former South African keeper, admitted Twenty20 is the most popular brand of the game these days.—AFP