LONDON, Oct 15: England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke says England could in future host Test matches between Asian countries as part of its commitment to supporting the five-day game.

Clarke told the November edition of The Wisden Cricketer magazine that matches such as Pakistan versus Sri Lanka, which he said “would be unlikely to attract big crowds in either of the participating countries”, could draw big crowds at English venues.

“Indeed, it might be said that Pakistan might get a better crowd in Leeds than in Karachi,” Clarke said.

“It’s something we are considering, how we play these types of games and where we can play them.

“I like the idea of providing the opportunity with our fabulous grounds and our huge ethnic minority populations who are keen to see their own heroes. And it may be in the interests of cricket; that’s the most important thing for me.”

There is currently some uncertainty over the scheduling of Tests, given the emergence of the Twenty20 variant which has thrown into doubt Sri Lanka’s tour of England next spring while there are security concerns regarding matches in Pakistan.

Clarke said the ICC must seek to protect Test cricket.

He told the magazine: “There is a strong awareness within the ICC of how important Test cricket is and of the importance of looking after it [but] there is only so much I can do.”—AFP