Aussie monopoly over Boxing Day Tests may be over; ICC set to review

Sydney, June 23 (UNI) The much revered Boxing Day and New Year's Tests played in Melbourne and Sydney is under potent threat with other Test playing contries disillusioned with the Aussie monopoly in the southern hemisphere season.

Cricket Australia's public affairs manager Peter Young yesterday conceded that protecting the long-established convention ''is certainly one of the most difficult issues we've got.'' Although the next Boxing day Test match against India is certainly on course but beyond that nothing has been finalised, leaving the Cricket Australia (CA) officials jittery ahead of ICC's Annual meeting next week in London.

Young also added that ''Looking ahead, South Africa have very clearly signalled this is a big issue for them and I don't believe we've resolved that yet. The only program we've finalised is the program for next summer.'' South Africa, which has its own Boxing Day and New Year's Day Tests, except when touring Australia, has led the charge by filing a secret submission to the ICC demanding a review of scheduling.

This despite the fact that Australia pays South Africa compensation to the tune of at least 300,000 dollar each time it sacrifices its own Boxing Day and New Year's Day Tests by touring Australia. It is due to tour again in the 2008-09 summer.

South Africa's submission to the ICC was backed by West Indies and India which has raised concerns about the current touring arrangements.

This prompted the ICC to form a high-powered committee of former administrators, chaired by former Australian Cricket Board and ICC chairman Malcolm Gray, to look into the matter and submit its recommendations to the ICC executive board's two-day meeting scheduled to be held next week.

Gray said the committee's charter had been to examine the existing scheduling through the Future Tours Program and to look at the funding of international cricket.

''The South African submission was along the line of concern that the existing scheduling and arrangements are equitable and the West Indian submission was based on their financial situation, putting forward that under existing arrangements it doesn't afford them sufficient financial support,'' he told 'The Australian'.

Gray and Young refused to comment on the contents of the report, but it is believed to have put further pressure on CA to maintain regular international cricket fixtures during the November to February window.

''Scheduling cricket is a bit like trying to get a Rubik's Cube aligned,'' Young said.

''It's really complicated and it's only getting more complicated.

We've got a traditional season that we've been operating for a long while and we're keen to keep working with other nations to do that.

The Boxing Day Test and the New Year's Test are iconic parts of the Australian summer,'' Young said pointing out that eight of the 10 Test-playing nations, including Australia, share the same cricket season.

The ICC committee's report is understood to have recommended a reduction of the cycle in the Future Tours Program from six years back to five years whereby each Test nation will get to play every other country at home and away in at least two Tests and three one-day matches within the cycle.

UNI