Cricket In Disarray As Sri Lanka Reject Revamp Proposals
Sri Lanka have become the latest nation to officially oppose plans to revamp world cricket. In a bid to restructure the game around its three most moneymaking nations – India, England and Australia – the International Cricket Council (ICC) have put forward controversial proposals, but Sri Lanka are having none of it according to NDTV Sports.
Sri Lanka are former World Champions of the game and as such their voice carries weight. However, with the shortest form of the game, Twenty20, proving a massive money-spinner in cricket-loving India, traditional Test-playing nations such as Sri Lanka are not keen to see an even bigger slice of cricket’s pie head to the sport’s most powerful country and its two historical giants.
The ICC’s proposals clearly and unashamedly favor cricket’s ‘Big Three’ of India, England and Australia. Under the proposed revamp they would no longer be forced, under what is known as the Future Tours Programme, to play the other seven full-status nations on a regular basis, something which many see as sounding the death-knell for the longer forms of the game in those countries. Financially the Big Three would also benefit, though they argue this is due to the revamp bringing more money into the game overall.
The other seven full members of the ICC are South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the West Indies. The proposals are particularly galling for South Africa, who as of the latest official rankings are the current highest-ranked Test playing nation – the strongest nation on the planet in purely cricketing terms. Unfortunately their financial pulling power is not that of the ‘Big Three’.
Besides Sri Lanka, other nations, including South Africa, have voiced their strong opposition to the new plan. The first to come out against it were Pakistan, whose governing body described it as “neither in line with principle of equity nor in the interest of game of cricket”, according to ESPN Cricinfo.
One group that may be in favor of the proposals are the six leading associate (non-Test playing) members – Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland – who will be offered financial help and the chance to break into the full Test game if the ICC’s plan is adopted. They will know that with the backing of the Big Three, and with only eight out of 10 full members needing to vote in favor, the proposals look certain to go through.
Sri Lanka has other issues to deal with, not least continuing political unrest and accusations of human rights abuses in the civil war which ended five years ago. Of less importance is the Sri Lankan cricket team’s current Test series against Bangladesh, which they are expected to win comfortably. Cricket does matter to a huge number of Sri Lankans, however, and victory will come as little relief to a nation faced with the grim prospect of being relegated from cricket’s top table.
Main image courtesy of Indi Samarajiva via Flickr.
