Clive Lloyd Flays ICC On Proposed 2-tier System

Clive Lloyd Condemns ICC’s Terrible' Two-Tier Test System Proposal. (File/AP)

Former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd has slammed the ICC and said that it would be a bad idea to have a two-tier Test system to facilitate more series between the big three nations. Lloyd's statements come in the wake of the report published by The Age that Jay Shah, the new ICC chairman, is set to meet Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird and his England counterpart Richard Thompson later this month to discuss the finer points.

Stating that it would be extremely detrimental for the West Indies and countries who have worked hard to get Test-match status, Llyod said, "I think it will be terrible for all those countries who work so hard to get to Test match status and now they'll be playing among themselves in the lower section."

He also criticised the World Test Championship cycle, saying it is not "well organised".

"It's not well organised as such because if I am in a Test team, I want to play cricket so I can qualify for that system," said Lloyd.

"They (ICC and cricket boards) should sit down and have a system where it's not only T20 cricket. People still want to watch Test cricket and until we get that right, we will all be in this system."

Lloyd also expressed dismay over former ICC chairman Greg Barclay's suggestion that the West Indies be disbanded and played as individual countries. "We (West Indies) have a great history, and now you're going to tell us that because of a monetary situation, (we should be disbanded)," Lloyd was quoted as saying in the Trinidad & Tobago Guardian.

"You could imagine they're talking about dismantling the West Indies, that is not the way to go. The way to go is to give them (West Indies and other teams) the same amount of money so they can improve their facilities, get better systems in place so that they can improve their cricket," the 80-year-old added.

Click here to read article