Full Membership without Test Status?
IF the exhilaration of the remarkable Sydney Test match is in any way portentous, the International Cricket Council will have a memorable centenary year.
And to be frank the governing body needs all the help it can get as it seeks to affirm its relevance to a largely sceptical and cynical international cricket community.
In Sydney to launch the centenary year, ICC president David Morgan reassured true believers of the primacy of Test cricket. As it happened his timing was impeccable for the elite cricketers of Australia and South Africa gave substance to the sentiment in the most unforgettable manner.
Morgan, 71, an affable, softly spoken Welshman with an abiding affection for the game, has no illusions about the difficulty the ICC faces in making meaningful and lasting connections with its constituents in 104 member countries. Nor does he hide from the fact the ICC often is seen as impotent, if not irrelevant.
"The poor reputation of the ICC is something that really does bother me," Morgan said. "And I think one or two things that have occurred in recent times has given it a deservedly poor reputation.
"But if you look at ICC's more general track record and its prospectus going forward, I think it deserves a much better reputation than the one that is currently available."
A retired business executive who chaired his beloved Glamorgan County Cricket Club before serving the England and Wales Cricket Board, Morgan has committed the ICC to raising its profile and credibility in this centenary year.
"I hope we can be proactive in trying to lift the image of the governing body of the game," he said. "This is very important. In Dubai (headquarters of the ICC), there are some very talented people, as talented a group as I have seen in cricket, business or industry in a fairly lengthy career. And Haroon Lorgat (chief executive) is a worthy successor to Malcolm Speed.
"It is not good for them that they read such downbeat opinions of the performance of the ICC. The game can be thankful to the ICC for a great deal. I have no doubt about that."
Aside from the issue of image, Morgan concedes that along with the vexed and perennial question of security and safety, the greatest challenge is to explode the myth that the ICC board is controlled by the Asian bloc in general and by India in particular.
Commercially India is the most powerful and persuasive voice in the game and it is widely presumed its influence extends to all matters of policy and governance. The fact India generates more than 70 per cent of the game's revenues worldwide adds substantial weight to the argument.
Unquestionably India has greater status at the table than at any time since joining the ICC along with New Zealand and the West Indies in 1926 - 17 years after its formation by England, Australia and South Africa.
For many years, India, Pakistan (a member since 1952) and Sri Lanka (1981) were affronted by what they considered the high-handed, imperialistic approach of the founder countries with their power of veto and yearned for more equitable and egalitarian government in the game.
Morgan rejects suggestions that India has undue influence but does not deny this is the widespread perception.
"I think there are some people in the Indian subcontinent who may think it is pay-back time, but the reality is that the Indian sub-continent power at ICC is much exaggerated," he said.
"However, it does concern me that there is this perception around that the ICC is governed by India. It just isn't true."
Morgan takes pride in the fact he is working successfully at close quarters with Sharad Pawar, his vice-president who will take the reins in 2010, and Shashank Manohar, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Morgan also has an excellent rapport with Inderjit Bindra, a former key officer holder with the BCCI, who serves as principal adviser to the ICC reporting to Morgan on the development of the game in China and the US.
"We see these two territories as massive markets for cricket and he is beginning to work on those," Morgan said. "He's also charged with helping me improve relationships between members - particularly full members and the leading associates - and that is working well.
"Indeed, I think going forward there must be every possibility that a country could obtain and maintain full membership of ICC without necessarily having to play Test match cricket."
This seems a logical progression given that of the 104 member countries only 10 - which includes Zimbabwe - enjoy Test match status, while all ICC events, the World Cup, Champions Trophy and World Twenty20, are played over either 50 or 20 overs.
Morgan emphasised that 101 of the 104 members of the ICC are dependent on income from ICC events. This means seven of the 10 full members also need revenue from these events. In this context, only Australia, India and England are financially independent.
His love for the traditional game and its history is abundant and he confesses to a range of emotions when talk turns to the determination of Cricket Australia to play Test cricket at night.
"It worries me because I am concerned about the integrity of Test match cricket," Morgan said.
"We look at the (Don) Bradman statistics, the Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath statistics: How valid are they going to be into the future if we start playing with a different coloured ball? We all know that when one changes from the traditional cricket ball to a white ball or arguably an orange ball the game changes quite significantly. I can well understand James Sutherland and CA being very keen to explore it and they will have the support of ICC in carrying out that exploration."
While the primacy of Test cricket may be universally respected, CA has a considerable battle on its hands to convince the BCCI and the England and Wales Cricket Board of the merits of a Test match championship.
"It's an open secret that the BCCI and ECB are far less keen," Morgan said. "They are two very powerful boards commercially and so they need to be turned around if Australia is going to lead the way for a Test match championship."
That said, he repaired to a spot high in the MA Noble stand to chat with the much loved Invincible, Arthur Morris and rejoice that Test cricket can captivate just as it did 100 years ago when the ICC was formed as the Imperial Cricket Conference.