The Pakistan Cricket board(PCB) proposal to have an annual four-nation tournament which features Pakistan,India,Australia and England did not find favour with a majority of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members, it is learnt.

      PCB’s chief Ramiz Raja had proposed the idea during the ICC board meeting in Dubai on Sunday and gave a detailed plan.   

  The Cric Sport blog understands that a few boards did support the idea but majority were not in favour of it. “He (Raja) spoke about at length but the majority felt it is important for boards to focus more on bilateral commitment. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) members felt that going ahead they will only have the Asia Cup as a multi-team event in Asia and did not back the four-nation tournament,” a member, who attended the ICC meet said. At the same time, other boards who didn’t feature in the proposal didn’t like PCB’s idea of going ahead with the tournament without them. Also, it was difficult to find space in the packed calendar.

  At the same time the FTP is too tight, it’s hard to get in a new tournament at this stage for sure,the member added. In an interaction with this paper before the ICC tournament, Raja had stated that he was taking this proposal forward as an ICC Board member and not as a PCB chief.The last great concept was the T20 World Cup, which was held in 2007. So nothing new has come since that 2007 event, and here’s an opportunity. This thing happens in rugby, so we have a precedent. I’m just hoping that we look at this concept as a cricketing concept and not as a political concept,Ramiz Raja had said. India versus Pakistan bilateral cricket has been come to a stop after India’s stand to not play until terror attacks are stopped. However, India does play Pakistan in ICC events. 

 PCB chairman, Raja later in the day tweeted, “Great discussion regarding 4 Nations series today at the ICC meet. As a concept it was welcomed and debated upon and seen as promoting the interest of the game. Fingers crossed. More when I am back at the office tomorrow.However, they have played Pink-ball Tests. In its press release, ICC informed that it has granted ODI status to a number of Associate members.Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja is considering resigning from his position in the wake of the ouster of Imran Khan as prime minister of the country, according to sources. Ramiz, who like Imran is also a former Pakistan captain, is presently in Dubai for the International Cricket Council (ICC).

@azaanmir #Cric Sport blog