ICC looks to the future

Ehsan Mani: the ICC 'will examine possible structures and funding models for an international program beyond 2012' © Getty Images

The ICC has announced that it is already looking beyond the recently-unveiled Future Tours Programme and is establishing a new committee to examine the structure of the international program beyond 2012.

"Although the new six-year FTP that began in May provides an excellent framework for international cricket, there is no point in just sitting back and not thinking of the future beyond its duration," Ehsan Mani, the ICC's outgoing president, explained. "This committee will examine possible structures and funding models for an international program beyond 2012 which we hope will continue to provide value and certainty to all cricket's stakeholders in a way that never happened before the first FTP was introduced in 2001."

The make-up of the Funding and Scheduling Policy Committee (FSPC), together with its terms of reference, will be ratified at the July meeting of the ICC executive board at Lord's on July 5.

The intention is that the committee will concentrate on a review of the funding policy that underpins the FTP as well as a review of how matches between members are scheduled.

The current funding policy is that each member receives all income from its home series while meeting the costs of the visiting side, excluding international airfares and player fees. The committee will assess this model and examine possible alternatives, including those used in other sports, and make a recommendation on future policy.

With increasing pressure growing on the ICC to address the question of player burnout, it is likely that the current system whereby each member plays each other home and away every six years will feature heavily in discussions.