London: In a meeting chaired by former India captain Anil Kumble, the ICC cricket committee has raised several issues related to different disciplines of the sport, particularly Test cricket, including the size and dimension of the bats and the quality of Test pitches.
"The committee discussed a number of issues regarding Test cricket, believing that a coordinated approach to the marketing of Test cricket was needed, and also expressing concern about the quality of Test pitches, and in particular, the common practice of home countries overtly preparing surfaces to suit their own teams," an ICC release stated.
The committee also asked the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) to "strongly consider" limiting the dimensions of bats to restore balance in the game. "MCC sought the committee's guidance on the desirability of making changes in order to redress the balance between bat and ball. The committee received a research paper from MCC citing a wealth of scientific and statistical evidence showing bats have become more powerful in recent years, primarily due to having larger 'sweet-spots'," the release said.
Tall scores in T20s and ODIs have become a cause of concern for experts, who feel cricket is increasingly becoming a batsman's game, especially considering that even mishits are landing in the galleries. "The committee's view was that MCC should strongly consider limiting the dimensions of cricket bats to help achieve a better balance between bat and ball," it said.
The committee, consisting of former international captains like Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardene and Andrew Strauss, also expressed concerns that a lot of batsmen are not using helmets conforming to British Safety Standard (BSS).
"The committee considered the matter of helmet safety following a presentation on injury surveillance trends by ICC medical consultant Craig Ranson. The committee expressed concerns that there were still too many instances of international cricketers wearing helmets which did not meet BSS. It recommended that the ICC enforce the wearing of the latest BSS compliant helmets in all international cricket," the release stated.
The committee considered a proposal from Cricket Australia for a "concussion substitute" to be tested for two years in domestic first-class cricket. "The committee acknowledged the seriousness of the issue of concussion in cricket, and stressed the need for consistent concussion policy to be implemented in all countries, but its view was that the current laws and playing conditions allow players to receive the best possible medical treatment, and further change to the regulations in this area is not required at present," it said.
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The member countries were praised for their work on suspected illegal bowling actions. "The committee noted considerable progress in policing suspect actions in international cricket and encouraged all countries to continue their efforts to screen bowlers in domestic competitions before they reached international level."
The committee has also received a presentation from the ICC regarding the apex body's plans on bringing about greater structure and context to international cricket by creating dedicated competitions for each of the game's three formats, and there was unanimous agreement from members that the current structure needs to change.
"There were discussions on how day-night Test cricket could be spread keeping all the checks and balances. However, it was stressed that day-night Tests need
to be delivered to a consistently high standard across all member countries if the concept is to be successful, noting that the combination of ball, pitch, lighting levels and environmental conditions needed to allow for an even contest between bat and ball at all proposed day-night Test venues," stated the release.
The committee also had a long discussion about the future of technology in international cricket, particularly on umpiring, after receiving a presentation from MIT's engineers about their testing of the current technologies used as part of the Decision Review System (DRS).
"The presentation covered the performance of edge-detection systems (both heat-based and sound-based systems) and ball-tracking with predictive path, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each type of technology, and how they could contribute to increasing the number of correct decisions made across international matches," it was said.
A detailed report, along with a list of recommended changes to DRS protocols, will be finalised over the coming weeks and presented to the ICC chief executive committee and board meetings at the end of June.
(With inputs from PTI)
