Giles Clarke, the England and Wales Cricket Board chairman, welcomed the decision by the ICC Board to take the strongest possible steps to prevent a repeat of the cancellation of a bi-lateral tour.
Mr Clarke, the ICC’s most senior director, was an advocate of the strongest possible deterrent to players thinking of abandoning tours in the future. This was in response to a decision by the West Indies players to leave India mid-way through their recent series.
He said in Dubai: “This whole episode has damaged the reputation of international cricket in the eyes of its fans, its partners and its members. The whole fabric of the game has been threatened and this cannot be allowed to be repeated. It was important that this issue be addressed by the ICC once and for all and there was a powerful and unanimous agreement around the Board table led by the ICC chairman.”
ICC Chairman, Mr Narayanaswami Srinivasan, said: “It was undoubtedly a sad chapter in our sport. It damaged cricket’s integrity and reputation, as well as affecting confidence within the cricket community, especially that of the fans. The ICC Board was determined to address this situation and ensure such incidents never happen again.
“The ICC is working with the concerned Members towards finding a positive resolution and is confident that there will be constructive outcomes for our game.”
At the ICC meetings held at its Dubai Headquarters this week the cut off dates for taking part in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 – both to be played in England and Wales – were also agreed. The top eight teams in the Reliance ODI rankings on September 30, 2015 will qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 while the top eight teams in the rankings on September 30, 2017 will automatically qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 is the third ICC global event which the ECB will host in the next five years.