West Indies will be spurred on we hope

By COLIN BENJAMIN
newsday.co.tt
International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dave Richardson has stated he hopes the West Indies will be spurred on to never miss another Champions Trophy event, following the realisation that the team has no chance of participating in the 2017 event in England.

The CEO was responding to general questions following criticism by former ICC president Ehsan Mani of Bangladesh and Pakistan for pulling out of the proposed September tri-series versus the West Indies. Both teams currently occupy 7th and 8th spot on the ICC ODI rankings with the Windies in ninth spot and just out of the reckoning for the Champions Trophy which fields eight teams. Popular belief is that Bangladesh and Pakistan have decided against playing the series so as not to jeopardise their places in the ICC standings.

“Participation in global tournaments should not be a right but rather something that is earned,” stated Richardson who played 42 Tests and 122 One-Day Internationals for South Africa from 1991-1998.

He continued, “The ICC Board has resolved that qualification for all future global events should be merit-based.

Hopefully, countries, which miss out on qualification for a particular event, will be spurred on to taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” Mani had cited the new arrangement in the Future Tours Programme (FTP) that was created during the “ICC Big 3” takeover as a major issue, which enabled Pakistan to pull out, which denied West Indies a final chance of pushing for Champions League qualification.

“Unfortunately, since the ICC meddled with the binding nature of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) last year, there is no obligation on any country to stick to commitments made to tour unless these have been confirmed in a binding contract.

“This ‘free for all’ nature of tour commitment opens it to manipulation which is exactly what has happened in this case.

“It also shows just how blindly the cricket boards agreed to the changes in the FTP without understanding the consequences,” explained Mani.

Richardson acknowledged this stating, “The ICC Board has already recognised the need to review the structure of bi-lateral cricket i.e. the Future Tours Programme (FTP) with a view to creating more meaning, context and value for these matches. To this end, there are joint discussions planned for the October ICC Chief Executives’ Committee and ICC Board meetings.” In 2013, the ICC announced the Champions Trophy would be replaced by the “World Test Championship” in England 2017, followed by one in India 2021, so that cricket’s three formats could have one showpiece tournament each.

However, during last year’s controversial “Big 3” ICC takeover by India, England and Australia, Richardson stated that the Champions Trophy which previously accommodated all Test playing nations would be re-introduced in its current revamped structure, citing a struggle to find a suitable Test championship format and non-commitment from broadcasters.

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