A "detailed blueprint has been prepared for a complete overhaul of the way world cricket is governed," according to McDermott & Fallon of FOUR CORNERS. The blueprint "envisages a new governing body for world cricket, affiliated with the Olympic movement, overseeing new Test and T20 competitions, with one-day cricket dumped." The revelation was made by Lalit Modi, "one of cricket's most flamboyant and controversial figures." Modi, who launched the "hugely successful" Indian Premier League in '08, "now lives in virtual exile" in the U.K. He said, "We're talking about another cricketing system. There is a blueprint out there, it's got my rubber stamp on it. I have been involved in it. I say it for the first time, I've been involved in putting that (blue)print together." He has revealed that "he himself spent years working on the plan." Modi: "The plan that I have put together is a very detailed plan, it's not a plan that's come off the cuff, it's been taking years and years and years in the making." In the past year, "concerns have been expressed in several countries about the level of control exercised by three cricketing boards -- India, England and Australia -- over the way world cricket is governed." Modi's blueprint "envisages a rival calendar of events" to the Int'l Cricket Council's, based on Test matches and T20 games. He said, "The plan conceives only of Test cricket and T20; it doesn't take into account one-day at all. I think that is completely redundant in today's day and age. I think it should just be T20 and Test matches that should be played" (FOUR CORNERS, 8/9). In Brisbane, Ben Dorries wrote if you "have grand plans to take over world cricket, you do it by stealth." You do not "announce it on television." Modi did exactly that "when he used the ABC’s Four Corners to reveal his association with a rebel circus which had targeted Australian stars as part of a plan to hijack world cricket." Modi said it would be "no problem" to take on an existing world cricket structure (COURIER-MAIL, 8/10).
