Sri Lanka Cricket thanks BCCI for supporting its stand against two-tier Test system

New Delhi: The long-standing bonhomie between sub-continental cricket boards again came to the fore as Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) acknowledged the much needed support from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which has vehemently opposed the proposed ’two-Tier’ Test system by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala said: “Sri Lanka has already made very clear its opposition to two-tier Test proposal of ICC as it’s detrimental for lower-ranked countries in many ways. Sri Lanka Cricket believes that two tier system would adversely affect the revenues of lower-ranked nations, competitiveness of their international competitions, spectator interest, long term growth in already established markets.

“Now BCCI has also come up in support of Sri Lanka Cricket on this matter as they understand the adverse effect on the lower-ranked countries due to the proposed two-tier system. We thank BCCI and its President for supporting our viewpoint in opposing two-tier Test system, which will be detrimental for lower-ranked countries in number of ways.”

The SLC president also appreciated the leadership position taken by BCCI president Anurag Thakur to protect the interests of countries occupying the lower half of the points table.

Thakur has already made it clear that BCCI, in principle, is against the idea of two-tier system which it think will be deterrent for the lower-ranked nations.

“As the governing body of the game, the ICC’s job is to popularise the game and increase its global reach. On the contrary, this system may be good for the top five countries, but apart from that, everyone else will suffer. On one hand, we say we need to support teams like West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, while on the other, by bringing up something like this, we will cut their legs,” Thakur was recently quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.