AFP, New Delhi :
Controversial plans to create a two-tier Test system have been scrapped by cricket’s world governing body after strong opposition from the Indian board, senior officials said Thursday.
The proposal to set up a de factor premier league featuring the top seven ranked sides was one of the main topics of discussion at a meeting of the International Cricket Council at a meeting in Dubai which ended Wednesday.
While the ICC said “significant progress” had been made in trying to reach agreement on “the future shape of all international cricket”, both the president of the Indian and Bangladeshi boards confirmed on Thursday that the proposal for two divisions had been scrapped.
“The officials at the meeting shot down the two-tier proposal,” Anurag Thakur, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told AFP.
“The BCCI could have benefited financially from the two-tier system but morally we wanted to stand with the countries which would have been badly affected.”
Nazmul Hassan, who is president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), confirmed that the plan had been taken off the table.
“It’s good news for us, I would say,” said Hassan, whose board had been fiercely critical of the plan which would have effectively deprived Bangladesh of the opportunity to play cricket’s major Test teams.
