ICC mulls Test Championship to make game more exciting

Sydney, Jun 11 (UNI) With a view to making the five-day game more exciting, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is considering the idea of an ICC Test Championship and penalising teams who take recourse to defensive tactics.

''We in the ICC have had very serious discussions for the last six to eight months on how to repackage Test cricket, make it more exciting and introduce an element of competition,'' IS Bindra, who takes charge as the ICC's principal advisor next month said.

''The ICC was looking at ways to increase scoring-rates (and) have a world championship of Test cricket.

''The form, the format and the frequency are all part of the discussion at the moment,'' he added.

The Championship would be played four-yearly on a home-and-away basis with a quadrennial trophy ceremony and points deduction for negative strategy.

These plans will be unveiled next month when the ICC holds its annual meeting at its headquarters in Dubai.

Bindra, however, refused to confirm when the proposed championship will see the light of day.

''For now, the ICC has laid a stipulation that all Test nations must play a minimum of 30 one-day internationals and 12 Tests each year as part of the existing Future Tours Programme (FTP) that runs till 2012,'' he stated.

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