New Delhi, Jun 30: The long form of cricket is set to get a boost with the much-awaited World Test Championship soon to become reality.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday announced its decision to replace the Champions Trophy - the last edition of which was won by India recently - with the World Test Championship, the inaugural edition of which will be held in England and Wales in June-July 2107.
India will host the second edition in February-March 2021, apart from hosting the World T20 in 2016 and the 50-over World Cup in 2023.
The decisions were taken at the ICC annual conference in London, where India again seemed to have its way with the Decision Review System (DRS), with no specific discussions being held on the issue.
In a novel move, the ICC has also cleared the decks for the use of flashing LED lights in the bails and stumps in ODIs and T20s, subject to an "independent assessment of the technology" by the ICC.
Tough on tampering
The ICC has decided to crack down on ball-tampering, with umpires being vested with the authority to award a five-run penalty to the batting team and book the fielding captain under the ICC's code-of-conduct regulations. Also, TV umpire reviews of a no-ball on the fall of a wicket can now include waist-high full tosses and bouncers above shoulder height.
The new playing conditions will come into effect from October 1.
"The principle of one pinnacle global event for each of the three formats over a four-year cycle is a good one and, as such, the ICC board has agreed to replace the Champions Trophy with the ICC World Test Championship," ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said. The ICC board wants to maintain "optimum balance" between the three formats and hence has approved the recommendation that full members should play a minimum of 16 Tests in a four-year cycle.
"In order to ensure that all ODIs played over the four-year cycle between World Cups count towards a team's ranking, the ICC board agreed to change the ODI rankings period from three years to four years. For the sake of consistency, the ICC board also agreed to change the calculation of the T20 rankings to cover the same period," an ICC statement said.
The ICC was also updated on the ongoing investigations by the ICC's ACSU regarding corruption in the Bangladesh Premier League. "It was advised that further investigative work needed to be completed before any further action can be taken in this extremely important matter," the ICC said.
The IDI board (the business arm of the ICC) also reviewed an inspection report by the ICC venue consultant on the venues for the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 and expressed its concern regarding the progress of construction. The Board also agreed to expand the ICC Women's World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 to a 10-team tournament.
This means, the top three teams from the ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier 2013 to be held in Dublin, Ireland, from 23-31 July will now qualify and will join Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies in the tournament finals.
Afghanistan was confirmed as the 37th Associate Member of the ICC while Romania was accepted as an Affiliate Member.
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