Sources have stated that just a few months ago the ICC chief executive was flush with enthusiasm as he has presented a plan for a two-tier Test system including Ireland and Afghanistan and after long being labeled, perhaps rather simplistically, as a stooge of an apologist for the Big Three nations, he has spoken gamely about providing “meaning and context” for the longest form.
It seemed not only progress for cricket but progress for the ICC as an independent body, distancing itself a little from the notion it only serves its already self-serving leading members rather than the game itself. The idea was further boosted with the revelation of 72% of players were also in favor.
Meanwhile the ICC’s whistle is no match for apex predators and on this occasion it was the BCCI doing the Jaws impression but other boards have been equally biting in the past and the upshot of last week’s Dubai meeting and the coy statement which followed were equally depressing.
Sources have added that India’s recent visit to the West Indies may well have boosted the WICB’s coffers but it is hard to believe it inspired more enthusiasm among current or potential home fans than would Tests played in a genuinely competitive context, albeit against weaker teams and this seems a presumption contrary to the very reason so many people watch sport and to see the emergence of fresh talent upsetting the established order.
