Valuable breathing space in a choked itinerary

It is often too easy to accuse the International Cricket Council of inaction, but at their executive board meeting in Delhi this week, they were almost spoiled for choice by the extent of the crises awaiting discussion. From Project USA to Kenya, via the Zimbabwe question and Percy Sonn's impending presidency, it would have been a PR stunt gone begging had they avoided making any tough choices.

So they really stuck the boot into Project USA, rightly calling the bluff of the arrogant and incompetent USACA, which believed it was too important to the ICC's visions of globalization to be cut adrift; and, just two years on from their semi-final finish at the 2003 World Cup, they tore a strip off Kenya as well, rescinding their full one-day international membership and adding to the humiliation by extending ODI status to the likes of Holland and Namibia - a move which confirmed something that we all knew already, that one-day internationals have no intrinsic value whatsoever.

The ICC also got tough with the Indian government, threatening to send the Champions Trophy across the border to Pakistan if they don't sort out their tax issues. They even took an important step towards ending the "Buggins's turn" machinations of the ICC presidency, by denying Sonn - the Dan Quayle of cricket politics - his opportunity to embarrass himself on the world stage. Instead they awarded the unpretentious but effective Ehsan Mani an extra year in office, and sent Sonn off to assist the Africa Cricket Association in their investigations. The hardest decision of the lot, however, was the one that they avoided having to take.

Zimbabwe's dismal showing against South Africa this month demonstrated to the world their naivety at Test level, and the lack of interest that accompanied their struggles merely exacerbated the calls for the ICC to suspend their Test status. At least Bangladesh, who were at a similarly low ebb two years ago, have always had a fanatical home support to mitigate their situation. Zimbabwe, on the other hand, are the orphans of world cricket.

A suspension from Test status, coupled with a commitment to rebuild their fortunes through A tours (which was precisely the route they had taken prior to their elevation back in 1992-93) would have been a humane way of bringing their young and palpably ill-prepared new generation up to speed, and that's before one evens drags Zimbabwe's ongoing political situation into the mix.

Instead, the ICC approached the issue with a bargepole tucked under their arms and, without singling any team out for special treatment (as had been widely expected), they instead gave each Test-playing nation six years instead of four to fulfil the terms and conditions of the Future Tours Programme, which requires all sides to play at least two Tests and three one-day internationals home and away over a fixed period.

On the face of it, it is a typically fudged issue. But, thanks to a craftily disguised sub-clause which permits the popular series (England v Australia, India v Pakistan) to keep their current timeframes, the fudge could in fact prove to be a cleverly worked compromise.

International cricket's concerns about uncompetitive series are entirely related to two other pressing topics - the lack of TV/sponsorship revenue from these uncompetitive matches, and the overcrowded fixture list which is a direct consequence of the need to squeeze in, on average, four-and-a-half series a year.

By opting, therefore, for a six-year compulsory cycle with provision for four, the responsibility has in effect been passed back to the individual nations. The popular (and by the same token, the profitable) series will be played over four-year cycles; the others shoehorned in where necessary.

There would be no need, for instance, for the murderous itinerary that South Africa are currently fulfilling. By the end of May, they will have played five Tests and seven ODIs v England, two Tests and three ODIs v Zimbabwe, and four Tests and five ODIs v West Indies, with scarcely a pause for breath, and that's without even considering their sojourn in India before Christmas. Under the new rules, they could have kept their big engagements against England and West Indies, but helped themselves to a vital month's R&R during the time allocated for Zimbabwe.

The ICC has acknowledged that, worthy though their development aims may be, the cricket public will always vote with its feet (and remote-controls). They want to see more of the best that the game has to offer and less of the worst, and with that in mind, the forthcoming Super Series has also been afforded full international status.

This compromise, while by no means perfect, could ensure valuable breathing space in a claustrophobic itinerary, and enable the flowering of old rivalries that are currently being choked by weeds.