MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has tried to compensate for its inability to push through the Test Championship by announcing an enhanced prize money of a total of $3.8m to be shared among the top four sides over a three-year period.

The prize money will see an incremental increase year-on-year with a total of $1.2 million to be distributed in 2013. The amount will increase marginally to $1.27 million in 2014, while the total prize money will be $1.34 million.

Previously, the top team in the Reliance ICC Test rankings received a cheque for $175,000 but in future will receive a minimum of $450,000 rising to $500,000 in 2015. From 2016 there will be further increases in Test prize money.

The decision to hike prize money was taken at the ICC Board?s meeting in Dubai Wednesday.

The ICC Board also passed a unanimous resolution recommending to the ICC Council seeking an amendment to the ICC Articles of Association to split the president?s from 2014.

The recommendation, which creates a new system whereby the President would be an "ambassadorial" role appointed on a one-year rotational basis, while a Chairman would lead the Board, will be discussed at the next ICC Board meeting before being submitted for approval by the ICC Annual Conference in June.

As part of the process for changing amendments to constitution, the board also deferred the nomination of Bangladesh Cricket Board president Mustafa Kamal?s nomination for the post of vice-president from 2012-14 which was jointly put up by Pakistan Cricket Board and Bngladesh Cricket Board.

Furthermore, Egon Zehnder, the international executive recruitment firm, has been appointed to conduct the search for the ICC Chief Executive who will replace Haroon Lorgat when he vacates the position at the end of the Annual Conference in June 2012.

Other decisions taken at the ICC Board held the first of its scheduled 2012 meetings in Dubai on January 31 and February 1 were:

Independent Governance Review

Following adoption of the new ICC Strategic Plan in April 2011 which, inter-alia, identified the need for an independent governance review as one of the key initiatives to ?Build a Bigger, Better Global Game?, the ICC Board received from Lord Woolf of Barnes and PricewaterhouseCoopers a 60-page report containing 65 recommendations and a transitional plan.

The report was presented at the meeting and, as was previously decided, the Board agreed to study the report in detail together with ICC Members and other stakeholders before fully considering the report and its recommendations at the next Board meeting in April 2012. The recommendations are summarised into five main areas: Role of the ICC, The ICC Board, Ethics, Membership, Board structure & Committees, and Funding.

Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (TAPP)

The ICC Board approved an initial $12m Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (?TAPP?) which is aimed at developing more competitive teams among Full Members and Associate/Affiliate Members. This decision sets in practice an initiative identified in the ICC Strategic Plan, the ?Targeted Performance Fund?, and is also in line with a recommendation contained in the Woolf Report.

Amongst the necessary criteria, Member applicants will need to present a proper strategy and business plan aimed specifically at improving on-field performance (Performance Improvement Plan (?PIP?).

Guyana and the West Indies Cricket Board

While condemning the interference of local government in the affairs of Guyana Cricket Association by dissolving the board and replacing it with an interim committee, the ICC Borad also reiterated the principle of non-interference in the sport by Governments also recognised by the West Indies Cricket Board, the governing body of cricket in the Caribbean.

MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) executive board will hold the first of its scheduled 2012 meetings in Dubai, from 31 January -1 February.

The major topics on the agenda include ICC VP (2012-2014) nomination.

The ICC board will consider the nomination received from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the next ICC VP who will succeed Alan Isaac as the ICC president in 2014.

Promotion of Test Cricket: Following the decision to defer the Test World Championship, the ICC Board will consider a proposal to increase incentives in the form of prize money to promote Test match cricket in the period before the ICC Test Championship event in 2017.

Other agenda items include update reports on the ICC Global Cricket Academy, the implementation of Anti-Corruption Codes at domestic level, the adoption of a Safety and Security Code, the independent report from KPMG on ticketing during the ICC Cricket World Cup and the annual report from the ICC Ethics Officer

Independent Governance Review: In April 2011, the ICC had adopted a new strategic plan which identified the need for an independent governance review as one of the key initiatives to ?build a bigger, better global game?. In August 2011, after confirming the scope for the review, the ICC Board appointed Lord Woolf of Barnes and PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct the review.

The governance review is intended to help the ICC?s aspiration to be a well governed and leading global sporting organisation. The Board had agreed that, inter-alia, the ICC?s committee structure and Board makeup will benefit from a thorough governance review, recognising that the ICC?s Memorandum and Articles were drafted at a time when the cricket landscape was very different.

Following an interim report presented by Lord Woolf during October 2011, the ICC Executive Board will now receive a final report with recommendations. Lord Woolf, who has been assisted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and advised by Judge Mudgal of India, had previously praised the Board for embracing the concept of an independent review.

The scope of the review is comprehensive and includes:

- Clarifying the role and structure of the ICC and its committees to ensure that strategic goals are met effectively and that decision-making is made in the best interests of the game. This would include consideration of independent committee members and directors

- The ICC president nomination and election process

- The Member categories and criteria for membership

- The effectiveness of the regulatory environment

- The Constitutional framework and documents to ensure they are ?fit for purpose?

- Making recommendations to ensure that the ICC enjoys a reputation as a well governed and leading global sporting organisation.

MUMBAI: Nizam Uddin Chowdhury Sujan, the general manager of Bangladesh Cricket Board, has been appointed as the acting chief executive officer following the sudden demise of BCB CEO Manzur Ahmed.

Ahmed, who was also a former national cricketer, had passed away on 10 January in Dhaka just days before the players auction for the Bangladesh Premier League, a franchise based T20 league, which he was officially expected to participate.

Chowdhury has previously performed the role of acting CEO of BCB from February 2008 to August 2010 and represented the cricket board in ICC?s Chief Executive Committee from 2008-10 and the Asian Cricket Council Executive Board as an ex-officio member.

As the acting CEO, Sujan will have his task cut out with almost just two weeks left for the inaugural edition of the BPL. The league will be held from 9-29 February.

MUMBAI: Bangladesh Cricket Board has finalised six franchises of its Premier League 2011 at the bidding programme held at Dhaka.

The base price for a team was $1 million. The franchise ownership is for six years.

The fact that the companies got the franchise for not much more than the base price says a lot about that market?s economic situation.

Nine companies took part in the bidding process. The programme observed one minute silence in remembrance of BCB CEO Manzur Ahmed who passed away.

List of franchise owners

The players? auction will be held on 19 January in Dhaka.

MUMBAI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has written to the BCCI regarding the resumption of cricket series between the two countries.

PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf has been quoted in reports saying that he had written to BCCI president N Srinivasan regarding resumption of cricket ties.

Pakistan is supposed to visit India in February next year. The two teams have not played a series since the 26/11 terror attacks in 2008.

Ashraf said that he had also met Bangladesh Cricket Board officials to break the ice.

MUMBAI: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is looking at setting up a television channel to back its proposed T20 league along the lines of the Indian Premier League.

The board, which many analysts feel has diminished in value as a property, plans to launch a franchise-based T20 tournament in the first quarter of next year The BCB expects that this tournament will be able to attract many high profile players from around the world and produce new players within the country.

The BCB will start the process of establishing a television channel, the board said. A committee has been formed to expedite the procedure.

The committee is headed by Media and comunications Committee chairman Mohammed Jalal Yunus. The other members are Dewan Shafiul Arefin and Siraj Uddin Md Alamgir.