England – Sri Lanka series the first in new schedule 

The ICC today launched the new six-year Future Tours Program (FTP) on its website, http://www.icc-cricket.com/

The FTP, which was unanimously approved by the ICC’s Executive Board at its March meeting in Dubai, provides the foundation for a balanced schedule of international cricket for ICC Full Members.

The England – Sri Lanka series, which begins at Lord’s on Thursday, is the first to start under the new six-year program of international cricket up to 2012 and that program offers the following benefits:

Regular home and away Test and ODI cricket for all ICC Full Members 

Consideration of player workload guidelines 

Protection of the status of Test cricket and ‘icon’ series 

Recognition of the importance of global development 

Controlled volume of international Twenty20 cricket 

Commenting on the website launch, ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed said: “The drafting of the new FTP was an incredibly complex process involving two years of analysis and 10 drafts.

“But now that process has been completed and approved by our Members it provides them with certainty of scheduling right through until 2012.

“And by publishing that schedule on our website it means everyone can quickly discover their team’s future commitments and be able to plan accordingly.”

The new FTP retains the core commitment to reciprocal tours for Full Members but expands the touring cycle from five years, under the previous FTP, to six years.

Spreading the calendar over six years means each side can fulfill its mandatory minimum requirements of two Tests and three ODIs, home and away, against every other Full Member over that period while still scheduling rest periods for their players.

At the same time it allows Members to tailor the schedule to suit their own, specific, needs while preserving time in the calendar to accommodate icon series such as The Ashes and India – Pakistan on a four-year cycle.

The FTP was put together on the basis of guidelines supported by the ICC Cricket Committee, players at the captains’ meeting and by player representatives, including FICA.

Those guidelines suggest the volume of cricket for each team should not exceed 15 Test matches and 30 ODIs in a 12-month period.

And even with the inclusion of the more regular traditional rivalries, the ICC Cricket World Cup, the ICC Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup, all of the teams fall within these guidelines when the schedules are analysed over the six year period.

The FTP places a limit on the number of international Twenty20 matches that Members can arrange.  No side will be permitted to play more than two home Twenty20 matches in any series or more than three home matches in any year.

And for the first time ODIs involving the top six Associate Members have also been enshrined in the FTP.

Commenting on the new six-year FTP, ICC General Manager – Cricket, David Richardson said: “We think the balance that has been struck by this new FTP is about right and we believe that in conjunction with the ICC events it will help ensure that the sport continues to remain popular with players, supporters, broadcasters and sponsors.

“It is now up to our Members to responsibly manage their calendar of international cricket beyond the mandatory commitments of the FTP and ICC events,” he added.

The new six-year FTP can be found at:

http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/test/future_tours/ftp_2006-2012.pdf

For further information, please contact:
Brian Murgatroyd
Manager – Media and Communications
Tel: +971 4 368 8312
Mob: +971 50 640 2534
Email: brian.murgatroyd@icc-cricket.com