* Dumps Test championship * Discontinues Tours Program DUBAI — Australia, England and India are to get more influence in deciding the future of world cricket following decisions made on the first day of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) board meeting here Tuesday. A new ICC executive committee will be established, including representatives of Cricket Australia, the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The World Test Championship, which was due to take place in England in 2017, has been scrapped and replaced by the Champions Trophy one-day tournament which had originally been dropped from the schedule after the 2013 edition in England. ICC associate members are also to get the chance to play Test cricket under a new two-tier system and a special fund is being created to ensure the continued health of the five-day game. The Future Tours Program was also dropped in favor of bilateral agreements between countries to cover Test series between 2015 and 2023, meaning the eight full members will not be forced to play each other on a regular basis. Critics of the leaked proposals were particularly scathing about this aspect, saying it could lead to the likes of Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and even New Zealand being deprived of top-class cricket against the leading nations because they weren't sufficiently commercially attractive. However, the ECB and CA have said they will play a minimum number of fixtures against all other full members. ICC President Alan Isaac insisted Tuesday: “This is an important time for world cricket and it is extremely encouraging that the ICC board has unanimously supported a set of far-reaching principles that will underpin the long-term prosperity of the global game. “These principles emphasize the primacy of Test cricket and that for the first time in cricket's history participation will be based entirely on meritocracy, giving everyone powerful incentives to play better cricket and develop better cricketers,” the New Zealander added. “There is more work to be done by the members in developing their schedules of bilateral cricket while at the ICC we need to work through the detail of the manner in which these principles will be implemented. “Extensive work will now be undertaken in advance of a follow-up board meeting next month.” While resistance from the other seven of the sport's leading 10 Test nations appears to have seen some of these plans watered down, a core plan to give the ‘Big Three' a greater say in the running of the world game remains on course to take effect. These include the formation of a new five-man executive committee, with three seats reserved for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA). — Agencies
