Speed is of the essence if game is to save itself

Zimbabwe may never play Test cricket again. West Indies are in a state of utter disarray. Bangladesh demonstrated again last week that they remain woefully uncompetitive. The recent World Cup, by common consent, was desperate. As was the Champions Trophy, the so-called mini-World Cup, that preceded it. In many, if not most countries - with England a notable exception - Test crowds are negligible. It has taken Twenty20 to offer a lifeline to the international game at large. There are increasing concerns that there is simply too much cricket.

The list seems to bespeak of grave illness, yet as the International Cricket Council concluded their annual gathering in London on Friday they and their members were convinced they were presiding over a game in rude health.

No doubt they are sustained - and who wouldn't be - by the latest TV and sponsorship deals, which have virtually tripled the ICC's revenue over the next eight years to some $1.5 billion (£750m). The organisation's chief executive, Malcolm Speed, put it thus yesterday: "All sports go through peaks, they go through troughs. The art - and it is an art, not a science - is to make sure that the trough is shallow. I don't think we're heading for a trough yet. I think Twenty20 has kicked it on again."

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These optimistic words - albeit containing the concession that a bastardised version of the game had come charging to its rescue - could not conceal the dark cloud of Zimbabwe that continues to besmirch the game and affect everybody's view of it. The country's administrators told the ICC board that they are still not ready to resume Tests.

That would have brought relief all round, since there was no way they could have been permitted to play again. But now comes news that a team of independent auditors from the global account-ancy firm KPMG is to be sent in to examine books that look distinctly cooked. Speed himself wrote, according to a leaked report: "The accounts have been deliberately falsified to mask various illegal transactions from the auditors and the government of Zimbabwe." Of particular concern are two transactions amounting in all to $1.5m.

So concerned were they that the ICC withheld $4.5m from Zimbabwe due after the World Cup, but that will be reinstated as soon as the independent auditors are in place. Whatever the outcome of their inquiries (and the early signs are that they will not hold up Zimbabwe cricket as a model of financial probity), Zimbabwe continues to be a mess overshadowing the whole game.

Speed said yesterday: "I don't know whether, given the difficulties that have been experienced both in cricket and the country, Zimbabwe will ever be able to come back and play Test cricket. But our duty is to support those cricketers, to enable them to play at the highest level they can."

Zimbabwe continues to garner the benefits of full membership, including the 75 per cent cut of profits from ICC events guaranteed to Test-playing nations and a full vote in key decisions. If this was all the ICC had to contend with it would be bad enough but, as cricket- watchers in the United Kingdom have witnessed this summer, the decline of West Indies is marked.

"West Indies is going through an immensely difficult period," said Speed. "It was distracted by the World Cup and it has governance difficulties because of a 17-man board from different countries who have disparate interests." Although West Indies are conducting a review into their game, the ICC are so concerned that they hope to send in one of their own officials for at least six months to try to salvage a worsening situation.

As the ICC were talking Bangladesh were playing in a Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo. It is commonly supposed that after a tricky start Bangladesh are improving in Tests. They lost in four days by an innings and 234 runs.

Of their last 11 matches they have lost seven by an innings and drawn only one because of rain. Fortunately this was witnessed by only a few score of spectators in Colombo. Or unfortunately, if the health of live Test cricket is to mean anything. "I don't think we expect to get sell-out crowds for each day of a Test match in countries other than England and Australia," said Speed. "That's unreasonable, but Test cricket is followed widely on television, the internet, radio and in newspapers. People identify with the performance of their team in Test matches. Test cricket is an anomaly, a five-day match that might end in a draw. We're confident it remains strong and that's our priority."

If there is too much cricket, there is no plan to reduce the amount soon. The trouble is not with the ICC, but with the countries. The ICC have a minimum number of matches that should be played in a series, but the individual boards then make their own plans. For instance, England and India would have to play only three one-dayers to meet the ICC regulations of a series this summer; instead, they are playing seven. They are doing it, make no mistake, for the money. But the concern is that they will kill the golden goose.

At least there is some willing-ness to change. The next World Cup will be only 35 days, instead of the interminable 47 last time, and the next Champions Trophy will comprise only the eight leading nations.

Speed does not have to worry for much longer - he retires in a year. He may then write the book which will blow the lid off the ICC and the true state of the game. The inaugural Twenty20 World Cup this September is now vital.

FOUR KEY AREAS OF CONCERN

Zimbo Limbo

Zimbabwe go from awful to worse. They will probably never play Tests again, and now there has emerged the first official suspicion of financial irregularities. The nettle may have to be grasped; while they have a place at cricket's high table, the game risks being a laughing stock.

Twenty20 Myopia

The ICC insist that there is not too much cricket and their president-elect, the England and Wales Cricket Board's David Morgan, was gracious enough to admit that if there was, it was not the ICC's fault. However, with the advent of the Twenty20 format, something will have to give.

No-Showpiece

Apart from the totemic Test series - England v Australia, India v Pakistan - the ICC competitions are easily the most high-profile events. Yet they have been misguidedly organised and poorly attended lately. The first Twenty20 World Cup in September must succeed.

Ill Windies

While the ICC's task is to ensure cricket's growth globally, they may have to ensure their traditional homes are better looked after. West Indies are suffering; South Africa are well run but many promising players (to wit Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott) head elsewhere.