Cricket Ireland commends Speight's work

Further to yesterday's announcement regarding the change in format of the ICC Intercontinental Cup the BCB are pleased to reveal that the original proposal to amend the format from an 8 team competition was the brainchild of its CEO Neil Speight. Speight masterminded a proposal, supported by the BCB Executive, to the ICC Development Committee to revise the competition into a two tiered tournament.

This proposal was endorsed by ICC management and subsequently passed unanimously by the Committee. The suggestion for change garnered wide support from many high performance countries that are all seeking to narrow the gap between Associate and Test cricket nations.

Warren Deutrom, CEO of Cricket Ireland was particularly thrilled by the change: "Cricket Ireland is delighted with the new structure for the 2009-10 Intercontinental Cup, from a number of perspectives - the possible introduction of Zimbabwe, the inclusion of all High Performance countries, the streaming of teams, and the inclusion of prize money. All of these demonstrate a clarity of thinking and progressiveness of mind in the ICC Development world, and I would especially commend Neil Speight and his colleagues at Bermuda Cricket who first mooted the idea. We are fortunate to have Neil's mind and presence working hard to further Associate Cricket on the ICC Executive Board."

Reg Pearman, President of the BCB, reinforced Cricket Ireland's sentiments: "The BCB and the cricketing fraternity are especially grateful for Neil?s efforts in providing a meaningful format and progressive proposal to the ICC for the Intercontinental Cup. Subsequent to the 9th place finish in South Africa the Bermuda senior squad was faced with a dearth of international fixtures, which are vital to the success of a high performance program. This new format has provided an additional "bite of the cherry" for our squad and I expect that they will respond accordingly. I look forward to the opportunity for Bermuda to continue to play First Class multi-day cricket and to welcome fellow Associate members to play in our beautiful country."

The BCB is currently engaged with High Performance Manager Richard Done and the competing countries to establish the dates and venues for this competition.