Lorgat calls for balanced cricket calendar

Dubai, Jul 2 (UNI) Endorsing players' concerns about the crammed international schedule, ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat has admitted that ensuring a balanced calendar remains a major challenge for world cricket's governing body.

''I think it is a challenge that one has to be aware of and if it is well managed there would not be any problem,'' Lorgat told 'Gulf News'.

Lorgat's comments come in the wake of complaints by leading international cricketers like India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting who have voiced their displeasure at having to play too many games in a short span of time.

Dhoni has slammed the schedule of the ongoing Asia Cup which compells teams to play back to back one-day matches on consequtive days.

The growing popularity of Twenty20 cricket is expected to further increase the workload of international players but Lorgat strongly advocates a balanced approach.

''It is important that we identify properly where the load is and then keep an eye on it,'' he said.

When asked about the future of the game, Lorgat said international cricket is poised to enter an exciting new phase.

''There is exciting time ahead. It was very encouraging to see a recent survey where Test cricket is still being rated as the foremost game that the players want to be involved in. More than 93 players indicated that they like Test cricket,'' he said.

''We know that Twenty20 has been an exciting new phenomenon and there is no doubt that there is challenge for other forms of the game but there is a lot of interest for the 50 over format too,'' he added.

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