(Trinidad Express) The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) expressed its support for the key principles proposed by the ICC relating to future structure, governance and financial models, during the first day of the two-day ICC Board meeting in Dubai, yesterday.
In a media release, the WICB said that after extensive discussions and careful consideration, it has joined with other ICC members in supporting the new draft principles.
The first day of the ICC Board meeting in Dubai concluded with member boards supporting a set of key principles. However, no vote was taken on the controversial “position paper”.
On the issue of the Future Tours Programme, the WICB said that through bi-lateral agreements, West Indies will be able to increase the number of matches and series (Tests, ODIs and T20Is) played annually against higher-ranked opposition.
“Through initial discussions the BCCI, ECB and CA have all committed to increased tours to the West Indies over the next eight year cycle (2015-2023). This is in addition to the India, England and Australia tours which are currently on the existing FTP,” the WICB statement explained.
The 16-man ICC Board met in Dubai to debate the leaked draft proposals made by an ICC sub-committee, which proposed a radical reshaping of the world game and increased power vested in the boards of England, India and Australia. Some of those recommendations have been discarded, while others have been re-drafted and will be discussed further at the next ICC meeting, next month.
Among the plans to receive support at the meeting was the formation of a five-man Executive Committee with three seats reserved for the England and Wales Cricket Board, Board of Control for Cricket in India and Cricket Australia.
An ICC media release, yesterday, stated that the ICC Board “unanimously supported” the following principles:
“There will be an opportunity for all Members to play all formats of cricket on merit, with participation based on meritocracy; no immunity to any country, and no change to membership status.
“A Test Cricket Fund paid equally on an annual basis to all Full Members (except the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board) will be introduced to encourage and support Test match cricket.
“A larger percentage from the increasing Associate Members’ surplus will be distributed to the higher performing non-Full Members.
“Mutually agreed bi-lateral FTP Agreements which will be legally binding and bankable and will run for the same period as the ICC commercial rights cycle (2015-2023).
“Recognition of the need for strong leadership of the ICC, involving leading Members, which will involve BCCI taking a central leadership responsibility.
“A need to recognise the varying contribution of Full Members to the value of ICC events through the payment of ‘contribution costs’.
“The establishment of an Executive Committee (ExCo) and Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA) to provide leadership at an operational level, with five members, including BCCI, CA and ECB representatives.
“A new company will be incorporated to tender future commercial rights for ICC events. There will be three major ICC events in each four-year cycle, including the ICC Champions Trophy which will replace the ICC World Test Championship.
“ICC will utilise a more efficient operating model for all ICC events, with a simplified accounting model across ICC income and expenditure to help better manage ICC administrative and event costs.”
ICC President Alan Isaac said: “This is an important time for world cricket and it is extremely encouraging that the ICC Board has unanimously supported a set of far-reaching principles that will underpin the long-term prosperity of the global game.
“These principles emphasise the primacy of Test cricket and for the first time in cricket’s history participation will be based entirely on meritocracy, giving everyone powerful incentives to play better cricket and develop better cricketers.
“There is more work to be done by the Members in developing their schedules of bilateral cricket while at the ICC we need to work through the detail of the manner in which these principles will be implemented.
“Extensive work will now be undertaken in advance of a follow-up Board meeting next month.”
