ICC proposal to reduce workload meets resistance

A proposal from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to increase the second leg of the 10-year Future Tours Programme (FTP) from five to six years has met resistance from some Test playing countries due to contractual constraints with TV broadcasters and sponsors.

A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official told The News, a Pakistan-based daily, that some members were finding the proposal difficult to put into practice because many of them had confirmed period agreements with TV broadcasters and sponsors bound by a timeframe.

In the recent past, there has been growing concern among members over an increasingly packed international schedule. Pakistan had called for an increase in the cycle before the meeting and the ICC, on the insistence of other captains, agreed to discuss the issue at a recent meeting of chief executives in Dubai.

"The experience of the first five years of the FTP has left many captains and players disillusioned," the official said, "as they feel there is a need to inject proper rest periods in between series and matches so that the players and match officials are not overworked and tired."

The proposal will now come up again when the ICC Executive Board meets in Sydney in October during the Super Series between Australia and the Rest of the World. The official warned, however, that a decision is unlikely to be taken at that meeting and that the issue will be resolved next year.