HONG KONG: Cricket's ruling body Thursday banned countries from making political appointments to national boards, vowing to free the sport from undue influence and outright government meddling. The International Cricket Council, meeting in Hong Kong, said it had made the decision to uphold “the important principle of free elections and the independence” of the sport. “It was agreed that all member boards must implement the provisions before annual conference June 2012 and a further 12 months –to June 2013 – would be allowed before any sanctions be considered,” the ICC said in a statement. The reform, which allows the ICC to suspend a member country in the event of government interference in the running of a national cricket board, will be hugely controversial in Pakistan, where the president is the cricket board's patron. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will also be hit by the change. The PCB has already sent a legal notice to the ICC on the amendment and has threatened legal action if the constitution is changed. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the reform was needed to bring cricket into line with standards practised in other global sports. During a busy and, at times, dramatic week in Hong Kong the ICC also decided to maintain a 14-team 2015 World Cup while scaling back the 2019 tournament to 10 nations, limit the world Twenty20 championships to 12 teams, introduce a mandatory Umpire Decision Review System in Tests and One-Day Internationals and ban batsmen from using “runners”. Pakistan to tour India Pakistan has been pencilled in to tour India for a full series of Test and one-day cricket matches next year, in what would be a breakthrough in relations that were hit by the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks. The International Cricket Council governing body's latest Future Tours Programme shows that the two South Asian rivals could play three Tests and five One-Day Internationals in March and April 2012.
