Test captains' 'unique insights' an invaluable input, says ICC chief

The unique insights of Test captains who attended the ICC captains' meeting are an invaluable input to ICC policy development, ICC president Malcolm Gray said on Monday.

Gray was speaking after a meeting with eight of the ten Test team captains. The meeting was chaired by Sunil Gavaskar and was attended by Stephen Waugh (Australia), Stephen Fleming (New Zealand), Jimmy Adams (West Indies), Heath Streak (Zimbabwe), Naimur Rahman (Bangladesh), Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), Moin Khan (Pakistan) and Shaun Pollock (South Africa). Malcolm Gray and ICC chief executive David Richards were also present.

Nasser Hussain (England) and Sourav Ganguly (India) were unable to attend because of tour commitments.

Gray said it was an excellent, relaxed and constructive meeting.

"We plan to continue to hold these meetings as often as possible given the busy schedule teams face," he said.

Gray said consultation with the captains provided the ICC with unique current insights into the game.

Issues discussed at the meeting included:

The three-year cycle of Standard Playing Conditions review by the Cricket Committee --
Playing.
Safety of players and umpires.
Test match issues such as the use of lights during the day.

One Day International issues including the Duckworth Lewis method and the number of white balls to be used per innings.
The captains' view of the standard of pitches.

Gray said there were a wide range of views put forward and that all participants had focussed on the international dimension rather than national interests.

The 10-year future tour programme, Test Cricket World championship and agreed guidelines on the volume of cricket were also discussed.

The ICC updated the captains on the new World Sport Group/News Corporation agreement, ICC branding and the ICC Development programme.

ICC Anti-Corruption Unit head Sir Paul Condon reported on the status of the unit's work and issues about how future problems could be avoided were canvassed.

Gray said the captains' views would be very significant in moving forward on a range of ICC initiatives.

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