ICC CEO Gupta says era of random bilateral series must end

ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta told PTI that the era of randomly scheduled bilateral series has to come to an end. Countries cannot sustain cricket without context, culture, competition and competitiveness, which require significant investment of resources. Gupta said ODIs can continue to survive and thrive because their place is inextricably linked to the men's and women's World Cups. He stressed the need to define what the format stands for and how it should evolve, including the expanse of participation. Bilateral cricket is decided exclusively by member boards without ICC intervention. The world body only handles scheduling of multi-national competitions such as the World Cups and the World Test Championship. Gupta said only India, England and Australia can afford to play Tests while other full members struggle to monetise the longest format. He added that Test cricket needs to be served in a manner appealing to new-age audiences and that prestige events in other sports offer lessons for reinvention.