Quadrangular series to thwart league threats, says Ramiz Raja

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja believes that the idea of a quadrangular series will counter the growing League cricket threats to countries' cricket, The News reported.

Ramiz will attend the International Cricket Council (ICC) Board's meeting in Dubai due to be held on April 10 and is expected to convince the member countries on the proposed annual Quadrangular Series.

The PCB chairman is hopeful for his idea of holding the four-nation series to be understood in letter and spirit. He said the earlier the ICC board members decide on hosting such a series, the better it would be for international cricket.

He said that being a former cricketer he wants to contribute to the cricketing world.

"Indian and New Zealand boards are also headed by former cricketers and they realise well the importance of countries’ cricket in the wake of growing threats from league cricket," Ramiz said.

He went on to say that the concern shown by some cricketing nations against the idea of quadrangular series is that it would undermine the ICC mega-events' effectiveness.

"I don’t think that criticism holds any worth as all the franchise events and other cricketing events also go on side by side. I think the Quadrangular Series would generate extra interest and spice in countries cricket that has been facing threats from League cricket."

Meanwhile, the PCB chief executive is already in Dubai to attend the CEO’s meeting where the discussion is in progress on the Future Tour Programme (FTP) which starts next year.

“Instead of bilateral One-Day series, we have proposed holding the triangular series each year-thus generating extra interest for the cricketing fans around the world. The PCB has also decided not to play two-match Test series as was decided by Najam Sethi when he was PCB chairman. The success of the three-match series against Australia is enough to prove that the right way forward is three-match series rather than two.”