London, June 19: International Cricket Council`s new president Ehsan Mani today conceded that, in hindsight, the decision to award Test status to Bangladesh was a mistake. Talking to reporters immediately after taking over office, the 58-year-old Pakistani cricket administrator said the performance of Bangladesh, which had lost 18 of its 19 Tests, had been disappointing. "On hindsight, yes," he said when asked whether it was a mistake to grant the Test status to Bangladesh. "But they started off very well." And even though he promised help to develop the game in Bangladesh, Mani said the country`s international fixture, particularly overseas, could be curtailed in future. "They have to consolidate more at home before playing abroad," he said. Outgoing president Malcolm Gray, who was also present at the press conference, confirmed that ICC had received compensation claims from Global Cricket Corporation and said the reported 50 million pound figure was "reasonably accurate". GCC, the exclusive rights holders for all ICC events till 2007, has asked to be compensated for its losses during the World Cup in South Africa earlier this year due to the failure of several cricket boards to honour their contractual obligations. "We knew that the claims were coming. That`s why we put aside some money from the World Cup," said Gray. Anticipating the claims, ICC had witheld India`s entire guarantee money from the World Cup after its cricketers refused to agree to the original players` terms for the tournament. Similarly, 3.5 million dollars of England and 2.5 million dollars of New Zealand was witheld because of their refusal to play their respective World Cup matches in Zimbabwe and Kenya. ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said the executive board, which met yesterday, had decided to carry out a wide ranging review of international cricket including the 10-year programme and the volume of cricket being played. "There has been a constant discussion over the number of games being played and on the programme of international cricket," he said when asked what prompted the decision for a review. "The review will take some time," he said. Speed said, alongwith the dispute over sponsorship issue, the refusal of England and New Zealand to forfeit one match each was one of the two downsides of the World Cup in South Africa, which otherwise was a huge success. He complimented the South African organisers for ensuring that there was no pitch invasion in any one of the 52 matches. "Not even one unauthorised person came on the ground. South Africa should be complimented for their security arrangements," he said.
Speed said there had been a suggestion that a third on-field umpire be posted to assist the two regular umpires and the issue would be further discussed.
He said to curb player misbehaviour, the time period of umpires to report a on-field misdemeanour has been extended from the current two hours after the match to 24 hours. Bureau Report