International Cricket Council CEO Haroon Lorgat said ICC will closely watch the split-innings experiment with the one-day format in Australia next year even though it is confident that the 50-over game will survive in its present guise.
Lorgat hoped the 2011 World Cup to be held in the sub-continent would prove that the 50-over format needs no tinkering but made it cleat that ICC was “open-minded” about the issue.
“We haven’t talked about changing that format,” Lorgat said, ruling out any immediate change in the format.
“We will see how the 2011 event unfolds and I’m very confident that you will see an excellent World Cup, which means we wouldn’t tamper with it for 2015, but it’s something we will be open-minded about.
“Let’s see how the domestic trials go, let’s see how the World Cup goes and then we can take a view on it,” Lorgat told Cricinfo’s Switch Hit show.
Cricket Australia last week announced that they will divide the 50-over match into four 25-over innings on trial basis during the Ford Ranger Cup in 2010-11 season.
Lorgat said the ICC would keep a close tab on the experiments.
“Whilst we are trialling these things at domestic level we are still quite confident that 50-overs at international level will survive,” Lorgat said.
“What we probably need to be focusing on is the context, in which it is being played, the quantity of 50-over matches and when it is scheduled. At international level I don’t hold the view that the format is as challenged as it is at domestic level,” he added.
Lorgat also assured that whatever change the ICC brings in the format, it will provide the cricketers enough time to get used to with the new version.
“We’ve always been mindful of giving players sufficient time to become accustomed to whatever changes we might make,” he said.
“We have been encouraging members to look at tweaks or fundamental changes to the 50-over format so we can see how it works out and whether it would be something we would be interested in picking up for the international format, so I’m very keen to see how it all unfolds in Australia,” he added.
