BCCI, ECB and Cricket Australia plan to host annual four-nation event, to approach ICC
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||Desk Report ||
The BCCI along with the England Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) is planning to host an annual four-nation event. They are set to approach the International Cricket Council for permission
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah and treasurer Arun Dhumal met with ECB representatives during their visit to London last week and discussed the plan for this event.
With CA CEO Kevin Roberts set to visit India next month, there are indications that the first of this series will be played in Australia next year, just before the World T20 commences.
These three boards, incidentally, are opposing the ICC’s decision to hold a global event every year. As of now, they are yet to commit to the Members Playing Agreement (MPA) for the years 2023-2030
The three are against an ICC event every year because they reckon by playing bilateral series, they stand to earn more revenue.
Currently, the men’s teams have one global event that happens every two years, with WT20 and World Cup taking place on a four-year cycle. Next year’s WT20 and the one to be hosted by India in 2021 are exceptions, as the latter was supposed to be the Champions Trophy.
Coming back to the plan for the four-nation series, there are indications that each board will be able to host the event on a rotational basis
While BCCI wants to utilise the festive period of October-November for doing so, the English board has been told to explore the possibility of accommodating the series towards the end of their summer.
Australia have the option of choosing the start of their summer in November or at the end of it in February-March.
“Initial discussions have gone well and everyone involved is excited at the prospect of such a series happening. There is a window in October-November which all three want to make use of. While BCCI has made it the start of its home season, England and Australia very rarely play during this period. So when the opportunity is there, why use it,” a BCCI official told this daily.
Apart from these three teams, there are efforts to include another based on availability. But this would require permission from the ICC, as there is a cap on the number of teams that can feature in events organised by national boards. The Asia Cup is an exception
“After the Hero Cup in 1992, the ICC put a cap on four-nation events. So a formal proposal has to be sent to the ICC for approval,” the official added.
Even though they are seeking ICC’s nod, sources say it is being done only to keep the world body in loop. The three boards are prepared to hold the tournament even if they don’t get an approval.
However, the ICC is unlikely to allow the first of those series just before next year’s WT20
The three boards are planning to host a T20 series just before the WT20 as a preparation of sorts, but the catch here is that it is clashing with the warm-up matches scheduled by the ICC.
Before each ICC event, each team plays two-three practice matches and if these three pull out, the ICC believes it would be a bad advertisement for the event.
While the IPL franchises initially made a proposal to use this window to slot a mini-IPL, the BCCI had refrained from making any commitments. It is understood that with this new series in place, the chances of a mini-IPL looks unlikely.
