Bacher Announces Recommendations To Broaden Cricket's Appeal (9 Mar 1997)

9 March 1997

Bacher Announces Recommendations For Broadening Cricket`s Appeal

Dr Ali Bacher, in his role as chairman of the International Cricket Council`s development committee, has announced his recommendations for broadening the sport`s appeal.

The development committee was set up last year at the instigation of ICC chief executive David Richards.

Bacher, the chief executive of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, has a track record of winning new converts to the game and is acknowledged as being a top notch administrator. He was appointed chairman of the committee which includes Richards and other notable officials such as MCC Secretary Roger Knight, Pakistan`s Majid Khan and Julian Hunte of the West Indies.

The committee`s first formal report will be to the executives of the non-Test countries during the ICC Trophy tournament in Malaysia later this month. A final report will be presented and discussed at Lord`s in July.

The gist of Bacher`s analysis and recommendations is that cricket is threatened as a major sport because it is played at top level by too few countries and does not capture a sufficiently large share of the global television audience.

Bacher has identified television coverage as being the key factor in broadening the game`s appeal, but he warns that there is no quick fix.

A key recommendation is that the world cup be held every 2 years.

Bacher sees the World Cup tournament as the game`s biggest television showcase and a source of funds for pay for the game`s expansion.

More frequent World Cups will, it is argued, help the nontest nations raise the standard of the game through more frequent competition with the 9 Test-playing countries and thus help to enlarge the game`s base.

Bacher feels that the importance of the World Cup would not be undermined by the greater frequency and cites the example of annual events such as Wimbledon and Baseball`s World Series. He also makes the point that a biannual tournament would be a counter to the current endless sequence of limited overs tournaments.

Other key recommendations are the establishment of a world Test Cricket championship, regular under-19 World Cups, and the establishment of 5 regional structures within which Test countries will provide guidance to non-test countries.