No tiers in Test cricket

Published September 9, 2004

LONDON, Sept 8: There could be many changes in cricket in near future. Nothing as radical as making a premier and second division among Test-playing nations that allows for promotion and relegation, as has been suggested in the past, but definite changes in the way game is structured at the moment.

The CEOs and representatives of 10 full member countries met over the weekend in Monaco to discuss and review structure of the game.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said several key issues came up, including fact that a small number of games generate a majority of profit in international cricket and also, that a small number of teams generate that profit.

Incidentally, this was main reason for idea of promotion-relegation not being further pursued. "There are very significant economic risks for international cricket if say a team that contributes a lot to commercial profit is relegated to second division," said ICC GM Communications Brendan McClements. -PPI