ICC claims tour plan fits guidelines

The ICC has denied suggestions that its new Future Tours Program (FTP) does not conform to the agreed guidelines provided by players' representatives. Malcolm Speed, the ICC's chief executive, said the FTP fitted into the plan provided by players and their representatives, including FICA, the international players' association, regarding the volume and scheduling of international cricket.

"The guidelines, which have been supported at the ICC cricket committee, by the players at the captains' meeting and by player representatives, including FICA, suggest the volume of cricket for national teams should not exceed 15 Test matches and 30 ODIs in a 12 month period," Speed said. He added that the guidelines need to be interpreted with some flexibility, but that no side is scheduled to exceed the Test or ODI limit over any 12-month period.

"In developing this FTP the ICC has sought regular input from players' representatives, including FICA," he continued. "In addition, our members attend ICC meetings as representatives of the sport in their countries and, as part of this, undertake to consult with their own players and their representatives on issues that impact directly upon them."

To try and make its point, the ICC produced tables to show the commitments of each full member country over the next six years. The first number refers to the Test matches, the second to the ODIs.

The number of ODIs does not take into account if a team makes the finals of Champions Trophy or World Cup, but Dave Richardson, the ICC's general manager - cricket, said even those would only make a total of 91 matches of the six years.

"The fact is, however, that everyone in the sport wants to see more international cricket than this bare minimum," said Richardson. "International matches raise essential revenue for the boards, provide significant income for the players and excitement for supporters. One of the main reasons the original FTP was introduced was to ensure regular cricket for all Full Members, many of whom had never previously had any certainty in their forward planning. What this new FTP does is maintain the guarantee of a regular schedule while allowing members to modify their program to meet specific requirements they may have."

What the new programme doesn't take into account are the random one-day tournaments that spring up around the globe, such as the India-Pakistan matches in Abu Dhabi and the proposed tour of Europe by the same teams. However, Richardson added that some countries wanted to play more cricket. "Several of our Members, including some of those where the players' association is affiliated to FICA, maintain the view that they would like to be playing more cricket than they currently have scheduled.

"On the flip side, India, who have more ODI matches scheduled than any other country, indicated at the recent ICC board meeting that their playing schedule was supported by their player group. When we canvassed the views of the Full Member captains at our captains' meeting, we found that as well as those who supported the current guidelines, there were some that wanted to play more international cricket.

"Overall we think the balance that has been struck by this new FTP is about right and we believe that in conjunction with the ICC events it will help ensure that the sport continues to remain popular with players, supporters, broadcasters and sponsors."