LONDON, June 21: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday dismissed as impractical the new proposal by the Australian Cricketers Association to have a rolling one-day world championship.

“It fails to address the multi-dimensional task of understanding and addressing the unique and complex programming issues that are present for each of the ICC’s members,” ICC’s chief executive Malcolm Speed said.

According to the proposal, a team will travel to ten countries in the course of the year to play one game before moving on to the next stop for its next game. In addition, a team will also host ten one-off games against ten different opponents while also playing ten games at a neutral venue.

Speed cited various logistic problems that could arise out of this kind of championship. “It fails to address issues such as existing commercial agreements, the travel and touring arrangements, the impacing on the scheduling of Tests, the availability of venues, the ability of players to prepare properly in each country, the ability to develop a coherent tour programme for fans to follow,” said Speed.

On the volume of cricket being played, Speed said there was mixed opinion on whether too much of cricket was being played. “At last year’s captains meeting, three captains said there was too much cricket; three or four said it was about right and three said it was not enough,” Speed said.

“In many quarters, there is also a mistaken belief that the current volume of cricket is the result of introduction of ICC 10-year programme. It is incorrect. The 10-year programme requires each team to play each other both at home and away in a five-year cycle.

“The fact is, under the 10-year programme, the only ICC requirement is that each series must comprise a minimum of two Test matches and three One-day Internationals,” he said.

The CEO said if more matches are scheduled, it is entirely “at the discretion of the boards involved.

There is no compulsion from the ICC for seven one-dayers in a series or stand alone events in venues such as Morocco, Sharjah and Toronto.

“Decision to play in these tournaments are made entirely by boards for their own reason either cricketing or commercial.” he emphasised.—PPI