England's commercial interests threaten World Cup, Test cricket
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The next cricket World Cup could be a 40-over-a-side affair if a proposal by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is adopted by the International Cricket Council (ICC), ESPNCricinfo reported.
The proposal is part of a discussion between the chairmen of the English counties and the ECB and has been formalised in the shape of a document titled 'Strategy Conversation Summary'.
Among other proposals in the document, one suggestion which threatens the tradition of cricket is reducing Tests to four days and cutting down the number of games in a season. It is understood that the changes have been suggested to accommodate the English Premier League, which according to the document would be "a dominant T20 tournament" competing with the Indian Premier League and Australia's Big Bash League, two commercially successful leagues.
In February 2014, the ICC passed a wide-ranging and controversial shake-up of its governance and structure despite strident protests that it gave too much power to the "Big Three" of India, England and Australia.
In the revamped ICC, India — which contributes 80 percent of global revenues — and fellow powerhouses England and Australia have permanent seats on a new, five-member executive committee.
The committee will make recommendations to the decision-making body, the ICC board, which is chaired by India's N. Srinivasan.
"While the next World Cup is to be staged in England in 2019, there is no way that the ECB - soon to be rebranded Cricket England and Wales as the ECB brand is seen as toxic - could unilaterally decide a change in its format. Equally, they do not have the power to change the length of Test matches, although if England, seen as the great defender of the primacy of Test cricket, is questioning the five-day format, then others may soon follow," George Dobell wrote in his column for ESPNCricinfo.
According to the document, it has been suggested that the president of the ECB Giles Clarke use his influence in the ICC to give these proposals some sort of shape, particularly the implementation of a 40-over World Cup.
The ICC is yet to respond to this development but as seen in the 'Big Three' affair and its surrender of power, the world body is unlikely to be in a position to negotiate if its arm is twisted.
It also likely that in chasing commercial interests, cricket may yet see another big division as Shard Urga puts it.
"Yes, these discussions will have to get past county chairmen, the MCC and the ICC. Yes, we understand that the business side of the argument is a powerful one. In the past, English cricket has given rise to radical ideas, and what has usually happened is that the world runs away with those radical ideas - like limited-overs and T20. The accountants will state with certainty that this may be the germ of another brilliant one."
