Championship on the rocks?

The International Cricket Council's much-hyped Test Championship is in danger of being scrapped after the major Test-playing countries failed to reach an agreement on the ten-year programme. The ICC are meeting at Lord's today (June 26) and one of the main talking points will be the Championship, which was only launched last summer. One of the key requirements is that all Test-playing countries meet home and away at least once every ten years. But with India and Pakistan refusing to play each other for political reasons, and other countries refusing to tour Pakistan and Zimbabwe, the Championship is already in disarray.

According to reports in today's newspapers, only two of the ten countries have agreed to the ten-year schedule. India and Pakistan have refused to sign and others, including England, have expressed considerable reservations over the plans.