By IANS
Chennai : Making a strong pitch for one-day internationals and Twenty20 games, International Cricket Council (ICC) acting president Ray Mali said here Saturday that the shorter versions of the game have made cricket "much more attractive".
"ODIs and Twenty20 games have rendered test cricket much more attractive than it was as more than 350 runs are scored on a single day. The game is alive and kicking," he said.
Dismissing Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene's warning against Twenty20 cricket, Mali averred, "He should give this concept a go and then take a decision thereafter."
Mali from South Africa was named acting head of the world cricket body after the demise of Percy Sonn last week. He was here on the occasion of the the Afro-Asia cup tournament.
Asserting that the ICC under his leadership will frown upon any sort of corruption creeping into the game, he downplayed concerns about reports of match-fixing and other controversies.
"I can assure you, we will not tolerate any issue along those lines. Corruption is simply corruption."
Queried about the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer on March 18 in Jamaica under mysterious circumstances, soon after the team was thrown out of the World Cup Mali said: "We should wait for the appropriate communication from the Jamaican police to decide as to what exactly happened to Bob."
He defended ICC against the criticism from some players that the playing calendar was getting crowded. "The players are always consulted about the fixtures and matches are arranged only with the concurrence of their representatives' views," he said.