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ICC mulls over details of World Test championship

The world cricket chiefs are committed to a world Test championship series but more work is required before the format takes shape. International Cricket Council chief executive David Richards said a review of the calendar was in progress.

"Until that process is complete we can't make a final decision on whether there will be a Test cricket world championship as an event, or as a rolling type of format over a four or five year period,'' Richards said.

Richards said there was "absolutely no intention" by the ICC or its member countries to reduce the length of five-Test match tours where that matters to the competing countries."

His comment follows suggestions that five-Test tours, such as the Ashes, should be cut to three-Test formats to provide lesser nations more opportunity to play top teams.

He said the world championship proposal was recommended as a way of strengthening those areas of Test cricket where we are not strong "not to weaken where we are strong".

While that was a matter of concern in both Australia and England prior to the ICC's just-completed two-day meeting, the overall intention is to strengthen Test cricket round the world.

"We are trying to get equity. We are not asking people to give up five-Test programme," said Richards. He said with positive things occurring at test level, Test cricket was on the resurgent.

The Asian Cricket Council is to help evaluate the Test championship proposal by holding its own mini-version in February-March, with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka taking part.

Tests will be played in all three countries, with the final to be staged at Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's hopes of becoming the 10th test playing nation may hinge on an ICC committee which will inspect its facilities in March.

The ICC will also lobby to have cricket retained for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester after its debut in Kuala Lumpur in September. There was little public support in Kuala Lumpur though.

Instead of the 50-over one-day format, an eight-a-side format would be preferred for the Manchester Games, Richards said.

He said the English cricket board strongly supported cricket as a sport at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, although both the Commonwealth Games Federation and the Manchester organising committee had still to take a stand over the inclusion of cricket.

"We hope to put forward a very positive proposal to the Commonwealth Games Federation," Richards said.