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Originally Posted by Raynman
India is a financial powerhouse in cricket no doubt. But the goal for ICC should be to promote cricket and increase the fanbase/viewership and hence the money. Test cricket doesn't draw the real money spenders (working class as opposed to kids and students) because they don't have the time to watch the whole thing and therefore, advertisers are too to keen to sponsor.
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Its the chicken and egg problem. ICC needs money to promote cricket without which cricket is going nowhere.
And to its credit , Cricket has expanded more than ever before .Zim is an exception but this is more to do with its internal affairs than anything else.Cricket needs money , for eg: Irish team's main motto is to get into top league so that its cricketers can become professionals .You cant have amateur's (chicken farmers or policeman) play cricket and expect the quality to improove.
Again we are talking about two things here ."saving test cricket/making it lucrative" is different from expanding crickets fan base.
Test cricket is not that tool to expand cricket's fan base.T20 is the only portential tool to expand cricket beyound the current members and associates.Its a tight rope to tread .
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Originally Posted by Raynman
We could take the easy way out and let India remain a fixture in the Tier 1 and give them an automatic qualification to the T20 and ODI WC semis.
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India does not need freebies man !! I was just pointing out the commercial aspect of it .Again "whats good for cricket" is a subjective matter .As always 'demand shapes supply' .I dont think ICC is courageous (even if it is the right thing --again subjective) enough to tinker with present set up.
Also personally I am ok with the current setup of FTP and bilateral tours.There may be an odd tarunt (read India) not touring or hosting a country but at the end of the day when the 'weaker' country becomes 'stronger' (criketing terms) the demand will push to have that lucrative tour.
It might be good for BD as well , think about it .If BD remains in Third tier , it will have to compete with (almost) the same teams over and over again !! Also the "label" of being called "Third Tier" will kill whatever chance BD has plating against the "First Tier" countries by way of a Bi-lateral tour outside the FTP