A quadrennial tournament, fitted between existing Test series and the one-day World Cup, had been recommended by an ICC sub-committee to delegates from the world's cricketing countries meeting at Lord's last week.
The ICC president, Jagmohan Dalmiya, said yesterday that the committee, who started work a year ago to strengthen the standing of Test cricket in parts of the world where it has not yet taken hold or has become almost secondary to limited-overs internationals, would continue to evaluate proposals for six months before reaching a decision. Issues of timing and the need to ``avoid commercial conflict with member countries'' require resolution.
David Richards, the ICC's chief executive, said that a world championship might be run in conjunction with an ongoing 'league' of Test nations, but that if such a ladder is to have complete integrity, it would need an equitable programme of Test tours between all countries. Each country, he added, would have to play all the others in at least one three-match series, at home and away, over a three-year period.
The prospect of Bangladesh becoming the 10th Test nation was also postponed while three ICC appointees evaluate the strength of a new first-class domestic tournament. Dalmiya said that there had been progress ``in all aspects of Bangladeshi cricket''.
There was encouragement also for the West Indies after a home series against England spoiled by the expensive abandonment of the Kingston Test. No further Tests will be staged at Sabina Park until an ICC official has watched a first-class match there on a satisfactory pitch. But to offset the adverse influence of televised American sport, especially basketball, the West Indies Board can now plan for a World Cup in 2007. Matches will be played in familiar Caribbean cricket centres and also in Bermuda, Canada and the US. The UK stages the World Cup next season and South Africa hosts it in 2003.
The meeting awarded the next ICC Trophy, the World Cup's qualifying tournament for non-Test nations, to Canada, in preference to Ireland and the US. Turf pitches are to be installed at five grounds in Toronto this year.
Under-19 World Cups will be held every two years so that each generation of cricketers can play but the next major world event was confirmed as being the ICC Knockout, involving all nine Test countries, in Bangladesh from Oct 24 to Nov 4 this year. From the proceeds, expected to be sufficient to give the ICC money for their plans to develop cricket in countries where it has merely scratched the surface of public attention, the ICC are planning to pay a substantial salary to a new development manager.
The position will be based at Lord's and the successful candidate will oversee development officers in five world regions. A playing background will be desirable but drive, vision and management skills are essential.
World development - and consolidation where the game is strong - is increasingly the raison d'tre of the ICC and is one reason why, in Richards's words, they are keen to ``build a culture for Test cricket''. Development officers have already started work - John Shepherd in the Americas, Nigel Lawton in Europe, Nasim-ul-Ghani in Asia and Hussain Ayob in Africa - with a fifth soon to take responsibility for East Asia and the Pacific.
France and Uganda were promoted to associate membership status at the meeting and Kuwait, Luxembourg and Malta have been admitted as affiliate members. The recent agreement to form a unified body in the US has renewed hopes of a purpose-built cricket stadium at the Disney centre in Orlando and there are to be trials at Kuala Lumpar, Hong Kong and Perth of the Australasian game, Super Max Cricket. If successful, the ICC will give their endorsement and hope thereby to attract new audiences and new players.