ICC warns India of responsibilties

Niranjan Shah: reminded of India's duties © AFP Enlarge

The ICC chief executive, Malcolm Speed, has written to Niranjan Shah, the honorary secretary of the BCCI, to issue an unusually forthright reminder of India's duties to the worldwide cricket community.

The response from the ICC comes after India announced plans to break away from the Future Tours Programme (FTP) ,by playing Australia in three consecutive years, and said they would not play any future Champions Trophy events, following the 2006 tournament.

"I have read a number of media reports emanating from the BCCI in which you and other BCCI officials are quoted as spokesmen on behalf of the board," said Speed. "The President [Ehsan Mani] and I are both very concerned that BCCI is moving ahead and taking what appear to be unilateral decisions that are contrary to ICC policy as agreed by the ICC members including the BCCI."

There is nothing to stop countries arranging tours outside of the FTP, but there is a fear that India are trying to reorganise the international calendar to maximise their income.

"I wish to remind the BCCI of three important decisions that have been taken by the ICC and IDI [the commercial arm of the ICC] boards in recent times. At its meeting in Auckland on March 9, 2004, the ICC executive board resolved to adopt the ICC [tours programme].

"The effect of this decision is that the FTP is binding on all of the members of the ICC, including the BCCI. Any attempt by a member to amend it unilaterally without the consent of the ICC board is invalid."

The letter from Speed also outlined the decisions that had been agreed at the ICC meeting in Sydney during October. This included the ICC staging a major event each year until 2015, although this plan has been disrupted with the poor response to the Super Series. Speed confirmed the priority for scheduling matches, making it clear that tours outside the FTP were at the bottom of the list. The order explained in the letter is the following:

ICC Events;

FTP Tours;

Regional events such as the Asia Cup and the Afro-Asia Cup;

Series involving Associate Members;

Any additional bilateral series outside the FTP.

Speed continued: "With the greatest of respect to the BCCI, could I urge you to take these decisions into account when you are considering scheduling of matches."

He explained that the next appropriate forums to discuss ICC policy were the chief executives' committee and executive board meetings scheduled for February and March 2006.