ECB joins BCCI, CA in opposing extra ICC event

LONDON: The ECB has joined the BCCI and Cricket Australia in raising concerns about the ICC’s decision to approve eight global tournaments in the next rights cycle (2023-31).

This, even as the Indian board, with a new administration in place, has hardened its existing opposition, creating the possibility of not signing the new fixtures’ calendar.

Like its Indian and Australian counterparts, the ECB is worried that an additional global event for men and women in the next cycle would only hit bilateral cricket. Colin Graves, the ECB chairman, told the ICC that the move would not only “significantly risk marginalising” bilateral cricket, but also has the potential to “devalue” the World Test Championship model.

It is an important objection, given that Graves sits on two of the most powerful ICC committees: the finance and commercial affairs panel and the main board.

Curiously, these were the committees that approved the decision to have eight global events in the next rights cycle - as opposed to six between 2015 and 2023 - and given that three powerful boards have now made their concerns clear, it calls into question the status of the ICC statement, which presented the update as a fait accompli.