International Cricket Council presents its vision for the future

ICC President Malcolm Gray and Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed today outlined the ICC's vision for the future at a special presentation staged at Lord's Cricket Ground.

'ICC - now and for the future', set out a program for the ICC to develop into a leading world sporting body and contained four major elements committing the ICC to:

* be transparent and accountable
* be innovative, strategic, relevant and commercial
* defend and promote its traditions and history - enshrined in the 'spirit of cricket'
* pursue a global approach

ICC President, Malcolm Gray, said: "In recent times sport has witnessed an explosion in growth, commercialisation and the ability to attract vast amounts of money. For cricket to continue to compete, thrive and grow against other sports, the pace of change in the game must now accelerate. Key to this is the ceding of more power to the ICC by individual countries and the introduction of new nations to our cricketing family".

Transparency and accountability

Speaking about the ICC's commitment to increased transparency and accountability, Malcolm Speed said: "Cricket has for too long been secretive about some parts of its business that should have been made available for all to see. We recognise that as trustees of the game, we fail to be accountable at our peril.

"From now on the ICC will outline all of its plans in clear terms and will be held accountable for the results."

Innovative, strategic, relevant and commercial

The ICC's first strategic plan, covering the period 2001 to 2005, will be discussed by the Executive Board at its meeting in Malaysia later this month. Standing alongside many other initiatives already underway, it proposes a route for the ICC to be innovative, strategic, relevant and commercial.

"The Board is being asked to adopt a bold strategic plan containing objectives, strategies and milestones that plot a course for a wide range of cricket activities over the next four years. It is proposed that this plan, if adopted, will become a public document against which the ICC can be measured", said Malcolm Speed.

"To help us achieve our objectives and become more proactive and progressive, we will be making a number of appointments to supplement existing staff in the coming months. These appointments will be in the fields of finance, media and communications, coaching, umpiring, refereeing, legal counsel, cricket operations and event management."

Among proposed changes to the game announced today, it was also revealed that following the recent launch of the new ICC Test Championship, the ICC aims to create a new ICC One Day International Championship.

Traditions and history

Malcolm Speed also outlined a number of initiatives to promote the game's traditions and history: "The ICC is radically overhauling umpiring and refereeing, creating small, professional panels that will preside over all international matches. We are also aiming to increase penalties for on-field misbehaviour, for example through abolishing the limits on fines and removing the option to suspend sentences.

"We are working closely with captains to ensure that they remain fully aware of their obligations around fair play. In speaking to all captains over the last few months I have been delighted by their positive response. They have made many useful suggestions about areas in which we need to work more closely together."

In respect of corruption, the ICC confirmed that it is to implement all of Lord Condon's recommendations and that in several cases it will go further still.

Global approach

Commenting on the fourth element of the program, outlining the ICC's global approach, Malcolm Speed said: "If we are to effectively compete with other truly global sports such as football, motor racing or tennis, our challenge is to broaden the appeal of the game. We need to be inclusive and to be attractive to people regardless of race, culture, religion, gender or age. "It is not exaggerating to say that cricket has enormous power to act as a unifying force that can help overcome differences of all kinds. In the current climate of fear and uncertainty, that is a quality we should appreciate and take advantage of to the fullest extent," concluded Malcolm Gray.

For further information please contact:
Mark Harrison, ICC Communications Manager
+44 (0) 20 7266 7913
Andrew Baud, Countrywide Porter Novelli
+44 (0) 1295 224398

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