Tunku Imran, who played for King's Canterbury and Nottingham University, has taken a leaf out of Ali Bacher's book when it comes to string-pulling in high places. As president of the Malaysia Cricket Association, he teased the government's interest and a nation indifferent to cricket is to issue three illustrative postage stamps, with first-day covers, to mark the start on Monday.

Before then the International Cricket Council will have taken another step towards a revamp of their organisation at the special meeting in the city tomorrow .

This week's ICC Trophy roasting-on-the-spit games - otherwise referred to as warm-ups - in Kuala Lumpur's heat would probably bear comparison with the temperature in recent tetchy ICC meetings.

Tomorrow's ICC full council get-together has been planned to ease changes for the Lord's meeting in June. The ICC are turning themselves into a limited company to give themselves proper financial status before a first planned attempt to popularise the game worldwide, with Bacher, the South African, leading the development panel.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, who runs Indian cricket, will probably be lined up to succeed Sir Clyde Walcott as chairman in the summer - with the title renamed as president - and the delegates, Tunku Imran among them, have a chance to discuss informally the possibility of a two-year World Cup cycle, instead of four, which would mean that the ICC Trophy would also have to be staged every two years.

Tunku Tan Sri Imran Ibni Tuanku Ja'afar, to give this influential businessman his full name, has helped prevent the game disappearing in his own country, mainly targeting schools, and there will be another big dose of international one-day cricket here next year in the Commonwealth Games.

For the Europeans, at least, the suffocating humidity made even strapping on the pads quite a work-out this week and there were bursts of thunder, lightning and torrential rain that must have made Ireland, coached by Mike Hendrick, the former England seam bowler, and Scotland, under Yorkshireman Jim Love, wonder what they had let themselves in for.