ECB support Test play-off proposal

The England & Wales Cricket Board insists that it supports the notion of a World Test Championship - contrary to the impression given by Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, in an interview this week - and even claims to have been approached to host the final.

Lorgat told The Guardian on Tuesday that India and England were the only two countries standing in the way of a World Test Championship, but David Collier, the ECB chief executive, said that his board were not opposed to the concept in itself, merely the format that was being proposed.

The ECB's preference would be for a play-off format, featuring either a single match or a short series between two highest-ranked Test nations. That is not the same as the ICC's plan to hold a series of matches over four years culminating in semi-finals and a final.

"England has consistently stated it supports a play-off for a Test Championship," said Collier. "Indeed Haroon Lorgat's own staff have approached ECB in the past month to stage the final in England which was warmly received and supported by ECB.

"The original proposal from ICC for a two-year cycle with two years of an uncertain fixture programme in regard to the Test Championship would have been detrimental to Test cricket and ECB's prime consideration is to ensure that Test cricket is at the pinnacle of the world game."

In his original Guardian interview, Lorgat accused the ECB of being "too high on the Ashes" to discuss the finer details of the proposal when the two governing bodies met during the summer, but has since claimed that his remarks were taken out of context.

"I would like to convince people that the way to ensure Test cricket survives is through a championship model," said Lorgat. "The only two countries who do not see the argument are India and England, but debate is growing all the time."