International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat says that money-minded players and not greedy administrators are the ones threatening the status of international cricket.

The obstacles facing the future of Test cricket were made painfully clear by the poor crowds present at the second Test between India and Australia in Mohali.

Lorgat said the boards of all the world’s cricket-playing nations were committed to maintaining contests between countries as the sport’s pinnacle.

His comments come despite a proposed deal between the Indian cricket board (BCCI) and Sri Lanka cricket that would ensure players from the island nation would always be available to play in the lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier League.

Such an agreement would mean Sri Lanka’s tour of England in the next northern summer would clash with the IPL, with the most likely outcome being the sending of a second-string team – a scenario that would be an unprecedented tear at the fabric of the international game.

“It’s a factual position that all of the member boards respect the primacy of international cricket,” insisted Lorgat.

“What we’re seeing is a challenge between where the players would want to be in terms of their potential to earn the most while they’ve got a window in their own playing careers.

“It’s clear what the position of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board is, they would want to see the commitments to tour England go through and equally the ECB is very keen to have that tour going ahead.

Sachin Tendulkar’s ascension to the summit of Test runmaking took place in a near empty PCA Stadium on the first day of the current match, something Lorgat admitted was a concern.

“Absolutely, I think all of us who came through yesterday were quite concerned at the lack of spectators at the ground, it’s something we have to look at and we’re going to have to promote and protect the form we love so dearly being Test cricket,” he said.

“It’s a challenge no doubt, the attraction of the short form is very great and the challenge for us as the leadership, not just at ICC level but every one of our member boards, is to convert that attraction in the short form of the game, into the long form, Test cricket.”

© AAP 2012

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