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ICC board meeting: Pakistan's plan for 4-nation event to be discussed

Raja believes Pakistan-India-Australia-England event can fetch up to $750 million

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The all-powerful ICC board will conclude its two-day meeting on Sunday with the process of nominating/re-nominating the chairman along with the ambitious four-nation proposal pitched by PCB chairman Ramiz Raja to be placed on the table.

Raja, who has prepared a white paper for an annual four-nation meet (T20/ODI) involving Pakistan, India, Australia and England, to be held under the aegis of ICC, believes that revenue to the tune of $750 million could be raked in by the parent body and distributed among its members.

As India only plays Pakistan in multi-nation events like Asia Cup and World Cup, the multination tournament becomes a tricky issue and it remains to be seen whether BCCI shows any keen interest.

As of now, BCCI wants to honour all its bilateral commitments with a jam-packed calendar and whether a window can be squeezed in is the bone of contention.

It is understood that ICC, which doesn't allow member nations to conduct more than tri-nation meets, would not like to organise an event that can dilute its own marquee events like T20 World Cup and ODI World Cup.

However, with ICC's chairmanship up for grabs unless Greg Barclay seeks a re-nomination, there could be interesting developments that might emerge after Sunday's meeting gets over.

While there is a buzz that Barclay might seek re-nomination, in politics of cricket administration, one month is a lot of time and it will be till second week of May that the New Zealander might get a chance to seek extension if he wishes to.

If not, then any candidate from the member nations might throw his hat in the ring with nominations from two other full-member nations.

The BCCI hasn't yet made any official announcement whether anyone from its top brass will throw their respective hats in the ring.

Afghanistan women's cricket

The ICC has a long-term plan to restart women's cricket in Afghanistan, a nation currently run by the Taliban. The ICC is trying to chalk out a roadmap that could see women returning to cricket grounds in the war-ravaged country.

Women's Test matches depend on member nations

The ICC has left it on member nations to decide how many women's Test matches they are willing to play and also the duration of the matches.

“If any member nation wants to play five-day Tests, it will be their prerogative and those who want to stick to four day can do so. The members can decide,” an ICC board member said. 

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