MUMBAI: Test cricket, which has been fast losing its popularity to the shorter version of the game, is going to experiment with the day and night format to attract prime time television audience.

In a significant development, the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Committee has agreed to maintain the impetus with regard to day and night Test cricket and recommended that should the competing countries in a bi-lateral series agree that they wish to try this out, this request should be accommodated.

The Committee also agreed that the trials at domestic level should continue.

Market research has recognised that the appeal of day and night Test cricket might be better suited to certain markets, particularly India, New Zealand and South Africa, and the trials revealed certain cricket balls retained their colour and performed better than others.

The ICC Cricket Committee had earlier received reports of the ongoing trials and considered the reports involving the development and feasibility of using different colour balls in multi-day formats in day and night conditions. They also considered a report from John Stephenson of the MCC on the experiences of their annual games in Abu Dhabi, reports from Australia, England and Pakistan as well as spectator feedback.

The encouraging change over the late years is that the value of Test cricket has fallen at a time when the level of competitiveness has intensified and matches have started yielding more results.

Statistics from David Kendix demonstrate that over-rates are at their highest in five years in Test cricket and that the average frequency of no-balls has dropped sharply. There is also a reduction in high scoring draws and that spin bowlers are being deployed more often in all forms of the game.

Kendix, who supplied these statistics to the Committee, also highlights that Test cricket is as competitive now as it has been for many years with five teams being separated by only eight rating points.

The committee, thus, feels that there is a need now, through the Targeted Assistance Performance Programme (TAPP) and the Future Tours Programme (FTP), to improve the competitiveness of some of the lesser performing countries.

Twenty20 strategy: With the popularity of this format of the game fast rising, the ICC Cricket Committee feels that it is wise to let the status quo prevail.

The ICC Cricket Committee supports the World Twenty20 being held every two years; the World Twenty20s should continue to be joint men?s and women?s events; and World Twenty20 should be 16 men?s team event from 2014 in order to encourage the development of the game.

The Committee does not think there is need to have an ICC World U19 Twenty20.

The Committee?s views are, thus, in line with those of the ICC Board and the Chief Executive Council?s which have already agreed that the ICC World Twenty20 would remain a joint men?s and women?s event and that the men?s teams should increase from 12 to 16 teams from 2014 onwards.

International cricket, being the lifeblood of the world game, needs the ICC to play a leadership role to protect and promote international cricket. Recognising this, the committee believes that the ICC and its member boards need to proactively ensure that the attraction of international cricket is primary and not only maintained but enhanced.

MUMBAI: The ICC Board has recommended the name of David Richardson, the ICC General Manager ? Cricket, to succeed compatriot Haroon Lorgat as the ICC CEO to the ICC Annual Conference.

The ICC Nominations Committee met in Mumbai at the weekend to interview four ?outstanding candidates? for the chief executive?s role and on Thursday obtained the ICC Board?s support via teleconference for Richardson?s nomination.

Besides Richardson, those in the fray included England and Wales Cricket Board CEO David Collier and former Karnataka cricketer and head of adidas South East Asia Tarun Kunzru. The fourth candidate was from Australia going by the name Baker.

The ICC Annual Conference is to be held in Malaysia capital Kuala Lumpur on 28 June.

If endorsed, Richardson will become the fourth ICC CEO. His predecessors were David Richards (1993-2001), Malcolm Speed (2001-2008) and Haroon Lorgat, whose current four-year tenure ends on 30 June 2012.

Johannesburg-born Richardson, 52, has been the ICC General Manager ? Cricket for the last 10 years and has an outstanding CV having represented South Africa as a wicketkeeper in 42 Test matches and 122 One-Day Internationals.

On retiring from international cricket in 1998, Mr Richardson, a qualified lawyer, maintained close contact with the game as both a business director with Octagon SA and as a media commentator before becoming the ICC?s first General Manager in January 2002.

After hearing of his nomination, Richardson said: ?It is a great honour to be nominated to be chief executive of the ICC. I am delighted with this opportunity and thank the ICC Board for their approval. It has been a privilege to serve as ICC General Manager ? Cricket, and that work will continue until such time as the ICC Annual Conference ratifies my nomination. I am looking forward to working closely with all the membership and stakeholders in the game."

MUMBAI: Sports broadcaster Ten Sports, which holds the rights to international cricket played in Pakistan, has evinced interest in televising Pakistan Cricket Board?s yet-to-be launched Twenty20 franchise based league.

Harish Thawani-promoted Nimbus Sport is also reported to have given a presentation to the PCB chairman and other senior officials last week on the Twenty20 league.

According to reports, Nimbus is interested in just organising the league for a fee but has not shown interest in procuring rights for the event.

Besides, Ten and Nimbus another international sports marketing agency is believed to have shown interest on the league.

"At the presentations most of those people who gave presentations made it clear that finances needed to be generated from the Indian and other markets to sustain such a major league including the franchises," newswire PTI quotes a saource as saying.

The PCB is hoping to get a price of around $4 to 4.5 million for a franchise which is expected to be held in October.

"Basically they also see October as the ideal time to launch the PPL as the ICC has kept a window open for the Champions League tournament as well and foreign players could be available as well," the source said.

"The biggest issue for the PCB is not just finances for the event but also security issues as they are keen to ensure the league launches with the participation of foreign players," the source added.

MUMBAI: The role of the International Cricket Council (ICC) president will be reformed after the Annual Conference in 2014 to separate the Chairman of the Board position from that of the ICC President.

Until then, the current roles for the ICC President and Vice president will remain, after which the Vice-Presidency will cease to exist and a new Chairman of the Board post created.

The term of office for the new ceremonial role for the President will be one year and will rotate, as it currently does, amongst the Members. The President will not be a voting member of the Board.

The Chairman, who will be appointed by the Board for a maximum of six years (3 x two year terms), will also be non-voting.

Until the President?s role has been confirmed, the joint nomination of the Bangladesh Cricket Board and Pakistan Cricket Board for the role of vice president 2012-14 was deferred until the amended Articles have been considered by ICC Annual Conference.

The ICC executive board held the second of its scheduled 2012 meetings in Dubai this weekend. The Nominations Committee reported that they have arrived at a shortlist of four candidates who will be interviewed in due course to replace Haroon Lorgat, the current ICC CEP, who vacates his position at the end of the Annual Conference in June 2012.

In relation to the post of Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee, the ICC Board decided to review the current terms of appointment. This review will cover potential remuneration and also the current restraints on the chairman in relation to media roles.

In the meantime, Clive Lloyd, whose term as chairman had recently expired, will be requested to continue until the ICC Annual Conference in June.

The Board also ratified the following appointments from the Chief Executives? Committee (CEC):

? Re-appoint Clare Connor, the current chairperson of the ICC Women?s Committee, for a second three-year term;

? Re-appoint Ravi Shastri for a second three-year term representing the media;

? Appoint New Zealand Cricket CEO David White as the CEC representative; and

? Appoint John Stephenson as MCC?s representative.

Twenty20 strategy: The ICC Board received a report of the strategic discussions held at the Chief Executive?s Committee (CEC) in March 2012 and confirmed the following recommendations:

? to increase, from 2014 onwards, the number of teams participating in the ICC World T20 from 12 to 16 men?s teams;

? the event should remain a joint men?s and women?s event;

? three additional Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) may be played in the year in which the ICC World Twenty20 is being staged provided there is a corresponding reduction in the maximum number of permitted ODIs (as per ICC Scheduling guidelines-the current regulations permit a maximum of 12 T20Is for each Full Member in any one year).

ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat said, ?The need to manage volume of cricket was considered when agreeing to allow the additional T20Is to be played in a year.?

The Board confirmed the hosting for the ICC World Twenty20 2014 qualifying tournament in the United Arab Emirates in October 2013 and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 qualifying event in New Zealand in 2014.

The ICC has already commenced with planning for its new rights cycle post 2015 and a key prerequisite of this is to determine the ICC events that will be staged. The Board has agreed the following events schedule:

MUMBAI: The global sale of tickets for the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 2012 Sri Lanka has begun with demand expected to be high for the first ICC World Twenty20 to be held in Asia.

A maximum of four tickets can be purchased by each person for the super eights, semi-finals and finals, and a maximum of six tickets per person for the rest of the matches.

Online booking of tickets will be available by logging onto www.icc-cricket.com, and buyers must produce a receipt confirming their purchase to redeem their match ticket at the box office. Ticket collection will take place from 1 August.

Prices starting at $0.25 for the single group games and the final itself has tickets ranging from $2.50 - $45.

Attendance at the ICC Women?s World Twenty20 during the group stages in Galle will be free of charge. The women?s semi-finals and final will be played on the same day on the same ground as the men?s and will be covered by the same ticket.

MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that the last three days of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 will be shown live by ESPN Star Sports. This is the first time that there will be live broadcast of an ICC Development event online and on television to a global audience.

Six matches from 22-24 March will be shown live from the Dubai International Cricket Stadium online at www.espnstar.com/live. The ICC has also secured live television coverage of these games into key territories via ESPN Star Sports and its licensees around the globe. A full broadcast list will be circulated at a later date.

This will be the first time that an ICC Development event, featuring only the Associate and Affiliate Members, will be shown on a live global television broadcast.

The ICC said this represents a breakthrough to expose cricket outside the traditional Test playing countries and, aligned with the ICC?s Strategic Plan, is an important step in promoting cricket to become a bigger, better global game.

The ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 is a 16-team global event that will be played in the UAE from 13-24 March. The top two sides will progress to the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012, to be staged in Colombo, Hambantota and Pallekele from 18 September to 7 October, where they will have the potential opportunity to face Australia, England, India and West Indies.

Among the six live matches that will be broadcast from the Dubai International Cricket Stadium are the first qualifying final, the preliminary final, the second qualifying final and the overall event final.

ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat said, "We are delighted that the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 can be watched live on television and online broadcast. We would like to thank our broadcast partner, ESPN STAR Sports, and our licensees for their splendid commitment to help us grow the game across the world and for their recognition of the growing interest in the sport outside of the Test playing world. This is an important part of our global strategy."

ESS senior VP, corporate development and cricket rights Anurag Dahiya said, "We are pleased to be working with the ICC to ensure that six matches from this important qualification tournament are shown across the world via our digital platform espnstar.com. We have already seen through our broadcast of recent ICC events, how well the likes of Afghanistan and Ireland have competed against some of the best players in the world, so it will be exciting to see these teams battle it out with some of the other leading Associate and Affiliate teams and allow our viewers to watch matches between nations that they may have never seen play cricket before."