Speed allays 50-over fear

The International Cricket Council has insisted Twenty20 will not replace the 50-over format despite a hugely successful ICC World Twenty20 Championship. Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, has also confirmed that a limit of seven Twenty20 matches per Test-playing nation each year will still carry on despite its popularity.
"What we have now is a new phenomenon to go along with 50-over cricket," Speed said.
"We need to make sure we blend the two and the pie gets bigger rather than (it remaining) the same size, but is divided among the three forms of the game. Our priority will be to preserve Test cricket. We need to make sure that Test cricket remains strong and that is the iconic form of the game. And 50-over cricket is the financial driver of the game.
"It's one of the challenges we face to make sure the three forms of the game remain vibrant. It's a terrific problem."
The Twenty20 version has, however, appealed to a wider fan-base and has been widely covered in both USA and China, according to Speed. "It's the perfect vehicle for cricket to develop in new countries. This gives us another opportunity, a different vehicle to go after those different markets.