Cancelling tours could mean $2 million fine

A fine of $2 million or more could be imposed on countries who fail to fulfil their fixtures in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) test tour programme.

The ICC's Executive Board will be asked to approve the proposal at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next week.

A non-complying country would be hit by a $2 million fine or if greater, the budgeted gross revenue for the tour, if the proposal is agreed.

But countries would be exempt from penalties where fixtures had been cancelled due to such things as natural disaster, war or where the safety of players was proved to be at risk.

"The aim of the penalty proposals is to protect the integrity of the Future Tours Programme," ICC communications manager Mark Harrison told Reuters on Thursday.

"There will be exceptions. Obviously, it would be grossly insensitive to make a team go to a country where security cannot be guaranteed.

"But I would underline that they are just proposals at the present time and not policy."

Under the 10-year ICC rolling programme, each of the 10 Test playing nations are scheduled to play each other both home and away with points awarded for series victories.

For Test tours, under the proposals the non-offending country would also receive two ICC Test championship points, as though it had won the series.

Next week's meeting will also discuss proposals to introduce tougher measures on player discipline and the feasibility of a one-day international world rankings system.

The board will be asked to hand match referees greater powers, including the removal of suspended bans and fine limits.

At present, players can be fined up to 75 per cent of their match fees, and banned for a maximum of three Tests and six one-day internationals.

Corruption in the game will also be discussed, including the implementation of 24 anti-corruption recommendations contained in the Condon report.

Mail Cricket Editor