The future of Test and one-day cricket, as well as the controversial decision review system (DRS), will be among the subjects up for discussion when the International Cricket Council (ICC) cricket committee gathers at Lord's for a two-day meeting starting here on Tuesday. The ICC would like DRS, first introduced in 2009, to be used in all one-day internationals (ODIS) as was the case at the recent World Cup in the Indian subcontinent.
But India have been opposed to the system almost from its inception and a controversial lbw decision during their World Cup tied match with England, where England's Ian Bell was given not out even though replays suggested he was in fact lbw, is unlikely to have softened their stance.
Bell was reprived under the '2.5 metre' rule' which says that if a batsman is at least that far down the pitch he cannot be given out on review as the available technology is not sufficiently accurate at that distance. Prior to the World Cup, concerns were expressed that ODIs were becoming increasingly 'formulaic' contests.
Suggestions the ICC committee will look at for reviving the 50-over game include split innings, possible use of two new balls per innings and allowing bowlers to bowl more than the current ODI maximum of 10 overs each. Floodlit Tests have long been seen as the way to revive declining world-wide spectator interest in the five-day game, which has suffered from falling attendances outside of traditional strongholds such as England in recent years. Committee chairman Clive Lloyd, the former West Indies captain, played in similarly floodlit matches during the 'rebel' World Series Cricket tournament in Australia in the late 1970s.
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