ICC supremo Haroon Lorgat revealed that a five member committee has been constituted to propose a model for the ICC Test Championship.

By Rajarshi Gupta

Lorgat, who was in New Delhi to hand over the Championship mace to Indian skipper MS Dhoni, said an ideal situation involves a Championship model.

“It involves a lengthy period and we will do the best we can. A five member committee has been constituted to propose a model of the Test Championship to the Chief Executive Committee of the ICC.”

This move comes amidst growing allegations from the the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA), who have cried themselves hoarse over an “outdated” Future Tours Program.

In fact, FICA chief executive Tim May had alleged that the ICC is trying to prioritise tournaments like the IPL through its FTP, which determines the amount of cricket all member nations play through a period of 10 years.

FICA have demanded that Test cricket be given more priority to survive and had suggested the introduction of a structured Test Championship.

If the five member committee Lorgat spoke of, does come up with a plausible solution, teams across the world will have the benefit of an equal share of Test matches.

India, who stormed to the number one position in the longest version of the game, were scheduled to play a ridiculous two Tests in 2010 before better sense prevailed and the BCCI and Cricket South Africa decided to squeeze in two Tests in February.

Though FICA wanted an “outside consultants” to get rid of “meaningless cricket” and "create a more equitable program with annual Test and one-day finals series". 

The constitution of the five member committee may well be a step in the right direction.

Meanwhile, Lorgat also flashed a thumbs-up for the Umpires Decision Review System, which has met with mixed reactions across the cricketing fraternity.

“I support the use of technology in cricket. The idea is to get as close to 100 percent correct calls as we can.

One decision can turn the fate of the match and it is important we get everything right. The system was never meant to challenge umpires but to route out errors.”

There was a bit of a furore when England were unhappy with South Africa for taking 50 seconds in one of their reviews in the ongoing Test series.

However, Lorgat opined that players and umpires were getting better with the DRS and sounded confident on its success in the longer run.

The ICC boss was completely non-committal on the Delhi pitch fiasco but confirmed that the ICC had written to the BCCI.

“The BCCI have 14 days starting today and the Chief Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle and Dave Richardson, will reply on the response we get.”

On a brief visit to the capital, Lorgat had his task cut out.