Mumbai: Outgoing CEO of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Malcolm Speed, today said there was no immediate need to carve out a slot for the Indian Premier League in the Future Tours Programme at the moment.

"The players know that the only reason they are approached for the Twenty20 is because they are the stars for their country. They have become good players because they have been brought up in the system within their country. IPL hasn't started yet. Before we go carving windows in the structure that is basis of the finances of all countries including the BCCI, let's see how good it is. There is no rush to do this," he emphasised.

Instead the ICC CEO said the biggest challenge facing the game's administrators right now was how to integrate the T20 format with Tests and ODIs to ensure that none had to face disinterest of the fans.

"I said to the ICC board in the very long paper I wrote in March this year that this current generation of cricket administrators will be judged not by how much money the game makes out of T20 cricket, it will be judged by how well we integrate T20 into the other forms of the game. We regard it as a challenge, not a problem," Speed said.

"It's very healthy and as the current generation of cricket administrators we have an interesting challenge and that is to integrate T20 cricket with the other two forms of the game," he said.

Recalling how India and Pakistan were opposed to T20 initially till the dramatic change of view after the former defeated their arch-rivals to win the inaugural world championship last year in South Africa, Speed praised the cricket administrators in the two countries for respecting the views of the others and taking part in the championship.

"If we go back three or four years when T20 cricket was emerging it was popular in England, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and there was some resistance to it in the subcontinent.

"If we got back two years India and Pakistan were opposed to the ICC running the ICC World Twenty20 and the basis of that was they didn't believe that they needed T20 in their countries because cricket was already popular," he said.

"Fortunately, they respected the views of the other members who wanted to play that event and the ICC World T20 went ahead and we know that India and Pakistan played a great final and the game became very popular in these countries," he pointed out.

The ICC CEO stated in clear terms that the country versus country theme will always remain the lifeblood of the game and he was happy that all member boards, including the financial superpower BCCI, subscribed to this view.

He also felt that while the Indian Premier League, floated by the BCCI, was a good concept, the need of the hour was to proceed with caution for the well being of the game.

"We don't need to change the nation-versus-nation structure of the game at this stage. Let's take our time and see how the IPL develops. I'm very pleased that BCCI has respected the request of the other members that there be a NOC so that they can object to their players playing in the IPL.

"I'm very pleased the BCCI has agreed that bilateral cricket between countries will take priority over IPL. They are two major fundamental points that will stand in favour of IPL and enable us to keep nation-versus-nation cricket going," Speed said.

"What I also said to the (ICC) Board was that cricket as we know it is based on country versus country and that's the life blood of the game... We need to be very careful that we preserve that. I said to the Board and I say it to you, IPL is a good concept. If it's executed properly and can be integrated into nation versus nation cricket it can be very successful. But we need to proceed with caution," he said.

Speed was unwilling to speak about the huge amount of money that has been generated by the IPL's Governing Council through selling of media rights and franchises.

"Let's not talk too much about money. Let's not get too carried away with the money. Let's see how well it can be integrated with other forms of the game," he said, adding that it does pose some problems to countries like the West Indies because of the period in which it's being held, April-May.

"It will add something to the way international cricket has evolved and we've to schedule T20 cricket in the same way.

Whether a window is carved out in the FTP is a different issue that could pose a serious problem for some countries, in particular West Indies. Their primary season coincides with the time IPL tournament is being planned.

"It also affects the other countries and how they tour. It is premature to change the fundamental structure of cricket. Let's see after the first season, there will be enough information to see as to how it should be structured," he added.

Source : PTI