The International Cricket Council has brushed aside criticism over awarding official status to the inaugural Super Series tournament, saying the players wanted their performance to be recognized officially.
The Super Series tournament, comprising three one-dayers and a six-day Test between Australia and Rest of the World, has been evoking mixed response worldwide with some viewing it as nothing but a gimmick to rope in television audiences.
But ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcom Speed, in New Delhi to promote the event, stoutly defended the concept and promised it to be nothing short of top class cricket pitting "the best team against the best of the rest".
"There is a lot of interest among the players; they want to be seen as the best and are keen to beat Australia in Australia," Speed told a press conference on Monday.
"These matches will count for players' records. The players value their records greatly. In fact, the players requested that these matches should have official status.
"The bowlers were ready to put their averages at risk by bowling to the best batting line up. The averages of some of the superstars of the game could be damaged in the process, but they were willing to go for it.
"Hence, the records will count for lifetime averages. The players are pretty pleased that the matches will have official status," he said.
However, the ICC chief said a decision on whether to make the Super Series, in October in Melbourne and Sydney this year, an annual affair is yet to be taken.
"I don't know whether it would be regular event. We will see how it goes. No decision has been made as yet but we are very hopeful of organising it on a regular basis," Speed said.
Asked about the logic behind having a six-day Test, he said, "There was this argument that the current crop of batsmen are better than the current crop of bowlers and that the batsmen could go on to score some 400 to 600 runs.
"So we wanted to create enough space to ensure the batsmen have the best opportunity to do that. But if the bowlers prove to be on top, the game could very well finish inside six days."
On players being made to play too much cricket and consequently being exposed to a greater risk of sustaining injuries, Speed said this factor had been taken into account.
"Every year we talk to all the Test captains. Last time we spoke to them, three said there was too much cricket, four said it was not enough while three said it was about okay. You cannot please everyone. Nevertheless, we at ICC realise that we need to be careful and don't go too far."
Speed said the upcoming ICC meeting in Dubai, which would see if the five-year programme for international cricket could be extended to six years, was partly in response to the concern about too much cricket.
He also justified inclusion of Super Series in an already cramped calendar, saying ICC chose that slot after considering the fact that there was "no other cricket" during that time.
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