ICC would not fall for T20 lure: Lorgat

The sellout crowd of the India-Pakistan warm-up match at Oval underlined the format's growing popularity, but International Cricket Council would not fall for its lure and slot more Twenty20 matches in its calendar, ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat said.

The sellout crowd of the India-Pakistan warm-up match at Oval underlined the format's growing popularity, but International Cricket Council would not fall for its lure and slot more Twenty20 matches in its calendar, ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat said.

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The 23,000 capacity Oval was choc-o-bloc as arch-rivals India and Pakistan squared off for a warm-up match. Having watched the game himself, Lorgat was not oblivious of the slam-bang format's appeal to the mass, but said he was not succumbing to the lure of lifting the cap on the number of Twenty20 matches to be played annually by a country.

"It is always tempting to have more but it's not clever to have more," Lorgat told The Age.

"I think we must be careful that we don't fall for temptation and that we manage our program. We must be careful of the dosage of Twenty20 which will be predominantly domestic, and we should focus on Test cricket and 50-over cricket, with Twenty20 internationals at a major event or as tour opener or at the end of a series," he said.

"(His view) is certainly not reflected by the many, many players I interact with. They are still very fond of Test cricket," Lorgat said.