Cricketers' union: we want to play better cricket, not more cricket

The international players' union has reacted with caution to proposals to rejig the international calendar by scrapping the necessity for countries to play each other in home and away series.

The game's power-brokers at the International Cricket Council are currently working on the Future Tours Programme, which will form the backbone of the game's schedule from 2012-2020.

David Morgan, the chairman of the ICC, on Wednesday suggested the home and away rule could be relaxed. Currently teams have to play each other twice over a six-year cycle but that could be reduced to once .

However the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations has reiterated its demand that Test cricket must be given context to survive.

"[The] problem with the ICC's model and David Morgan's contention that the volume of cricket will be decreased is that because windows have been carved out for Champions League and IPL [albeit unofficially for the IPL], international cricket will only be able to be scheduled in 42 of the weeks of the year, rather than 52," said Tim May, chief executive of Fica.

"If you assume that the best players in world will play IPL and then aggregate these matches with the proposed international calendar, the players will be playing more days cricket in the period 2012-2020 than they previously did. More is not better, context is vital and the sooner ICC schedule matches according to an agreed context (annual or bi-annual championships) the better the game will be."

The debate comes just 24 hours after the Indian board scrapped a scheduled three-Test series against South Africa next spring in favour of a seven-match one-day series.

Both boards blamed a scheduling pile-up but sources have indicated the dwindling support for Test cricket in the sub-continent, from fans, sponsors and broadcasters, was behind the move, despite the fact the series would have seen the top two teams in the Test rankings go head-to-head.

Last month Fica proposed the introduction of a structured Test championship which would prevent boards from changing fixtures at the last minute.