Two-tier proposal shelved at ICC meeting

The proposal for a two-tier structure in Test cricket has been withdrawn by the ICC, at the meeting of its chief executives committee (CEC) in Dubai on Wednesday, despite six Full Members reportedly being in favour of it. There was no vote at the meeting but the consensus was to take the proposal “off the table” for the moment.

“There was a significant compromise and it was subsequently decided to withdraw the two-tier proposal,” a chief executive who attended the meeting told ESPNcricinfo. He said the BCCI, Sri Lanka Cricket, the BCB and Zimbabwe Cricket had opposed the proposal, which had found support from the boards of Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies.

“We are delighted,” BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury told ESPNcricinfo. “We could convince other members of the negative impact it would have on Bangladesh cricket. I thank them for understanding our situation. I also want to thank the ICC management for organising this workshop. The two-tier system is off the table, and we will now discuss the future structure of cricket in the coming days.”

On Monday, the players’ global body FICA had revealed that 72% of players quizzed for the body’s annual survey were in favour of “the introduction of a divisional Test competition to add more meaning to each match”. The FICA executive chairman Tony Irish had urged the ICC Board to carefully consider the new model under consideration.

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