T20 leagues threaten new international schedule

Thu, Apr 27, '17

Burgeoning domestic T20 leagues are becoming obstacles as cricket administrators try and find a way to make Test and ODI leagues work in a new international calendar. And more than just a logistical issue, the problem seems to cut right to the heart of wider debates about the relevance of the international game.
One of the proposals to resolve the conflict, suggested by ICC general manager cricket Geoff Allardice, is to schedule fewer Test matches.
Chief executives of Full Member boards met this week in Dubai to discuss a Future Tours Programme (FTP) model they produced in March, but which is already looking unviable. The proposed FTP is the result of a scheduling summit that built on plans to introduce a 12-team Test league played over two years, and a 13-team ODI league played over three. Those plans were approved at ICC meetings in February.    
But ICC management has identified a number of issues with the calendar and has told Members that, as it stands, the schedule means the new structures will not be approved by the ICC Board.  
"In summary, the schedule developed by Members is too congested, and the competition models that CEC [chief executives committee] identified in February cannot be recommended to the ICC Board for approval if they are to be accompanied by this schedule," Allardice wrote in an assessment of the schedules seen by ESPNcricinfo.