The world cricket committee of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the owners of London's Lord's Cricket Ground, has reportedly added their voice in urging officials to persist with the threatened World Test Championship (WTC).
The International Cricket Council (ICC) intends to stage the inaugural edition of the proposed tournament in England in 2017, with the top four sides in the game's longest format vying for the trophy, in order to give a boost to the five-day game.
However, Sport24 reports that the WTC is still failing to attract broadcast and commercial interest, leaving the ICC contemplating continuing with the Champions Trophy instead, although the MCC, the global guardian of the sport's laws or rules, believes this would be a mistake.
The group, which is chaired by former England captain Mike Brearley and includes Rahul Dravid, Steve Waugh, Shaun Pollock and ICC chief executive David Richardson among its members, said that even a cut-down Test Championship featuring just the two top-ranked teams would be better than abandoning the concept completely.
The committee further stated that it understands the commercial sensitivities and logistical issues surrounding the proposed World Test Championship, but feels that a solution must be found, adding that Test cricket could suffer if the concept was dropped.