Working Group To Look Into Cricket's Formats As Support For T10 Status Fades
A working group is set to be established and tasked with addressing pressing issues over cricket's three formats, including a radical plan to split Test nations into two divisions.
The taskforce, which is expected to comprise administrators from the Chief Executives' Committee, will also look into whether T10 - an emerging 90-minute game - should be made into an official format for international cricket.
Despite some influential support from several board directors, there is limited support to add a fourth format in the near future it is learnt.
There will be more immediate focus for the working group on Test cricket. In-game bonus points, extra points for away wins and a shot clock to manage over rates are expected to be ratified shortly with the new cycle of the World Test Championship to start in June.
A lot of attention will be on Test's future and whether the traditional format will undergo a major shake-up and split into two divisions. Australia and England, two of cricket's most powerful and richest countries, have been advocates and keen to persuade all-mighty India.
The Ashes could be played more often (Photo by)
Apart from details in a report in The Age newspaper in January, details have been murky with the plan believed to not have been formally presented to the all-powerful International Cricket Council board. Discussions have so far been informal with much to be ironed out.
The exact split between the 12 Test nations - 7-5 or 6-6 - as well as whether promotion and relegation would be part of the system are to be determined. Promotion and relegation has been a contentious topic previously.
The 'big three' countries of India, Australia and England have been reticent given that slipping into the lower bracket would scupper their money-making plans, with the trio wanting to play each other more often given the financial incentives.
Under the plan, Australia and England could play two Ashes series every three years instead of four years currently.
Promotion and relegation along with how the funds will be distributed loom as sticking points.
'If it's (the plan) on the promotion and relegation basis it will get some backing,' ICC board director and Zimbabwe chair Tavengwa Mukuhlani told me. 'If it doesn't have that then two divisions is useless. There's no point and no context. We would not support that.
'The funds from the top division need to be shared properly.'
The 50-over format has long been under the spotlight due to the emergence and growing popularity of T20 cricket over the past two decades. But given that the World Cup remains a marquee event and money-spinner, ODI cricket's status is secure although tweaks are expected.
The scrapping of two new balls in ODIs is expected, while a handful of boards are pushing for the revival of the scrapped 13-team ODI Super League.
T10 competitions have been sprouting around the world in recent years, traversing far-flung locations from the Cayman Islands to Melbourne, which is hosting an ongoing 11-day tournament that has been approved by Cricket Australia.
T10 cricket has thrived in the United Arab Emirates (Photo by)
It has influential support, with some proponents believing it could be a more viable long-term Olympic option for cricket than T20, which will be played at Los Angeles in six-team men's and women's competitions.
There are those who believe that T10, perhaps played with six per side, could be a second cricket Olympic discipline much like 3x3 - three per side over 10 minutes - is for basketball, a rival that vies with cricket for the title of world's second biggest sport.
But there does not appear enough widespread support on the ICC board for T10 cricket to hold official international status, which is a requirement for the Olympics. For the foreseeable future, international cricket will consist of Tests, ODIs and T20s albeit the formats may undergo some change.
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