Australia's Kevin Roberts vows to develop cricket beyond India amidst Super Series talks

Since the end of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, reports of a disagreement between the ICC and the 'Big Three' (Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board) have been emerging. The ICC, under the leadership of Manu Sawhney, has insisted that an ICC tournament must be played every year so that all the major cricket boards have an opportunity to be financially stable. The 'Big Three' have opposed this move and cited reasons such as player fatigue to back their resistance to the idea. Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts recently talked about their intentions to grow the game throughout the globe and reflected on the same.

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Sourav Ganguly is an innovative leader: Kevin Roberts 

Talking to a leading cricket portal, Roberts explicitly acknowledged Sourav Ganguly's ideas and initiatives as the new BCCI President. The former Indian captain has been at the helm of the world's richest cricket board for only two months. However, during this period, he has taken a lot of strides to grow the game in India. India hosted its first-ever Day-Night Test match against Bangladesh in November and Ganguly has now pitched the idea for a 'Super Series' between the 'Big Three' - India, Australia, and England. Roberts considers Ganguly's ideas as innovative but also acknowledged that other member boards may need assistance. Roberts added that CA has been in talks with India, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Pakistan to discuss their cricket calendars for the future. The level of talks are expected to advance further when Australia tour India for a 3-match ODI series in January 2020.

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Kevin Roberts talks on global responsibility

Kevin Roberts also spoke about Cricket Australia's responsibility to be a great partner to both the International Cricket Council (ICC) and its member nations. Roberts insisted that any decision that CA makes will be in the best interests of cricket and its global growth as he believes that the game has to grow beyond India and the Indian subcontinent. Roberts also acknowledged the massive devout following that cricket has in countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

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Kevin Roberts likely to give more Boxing Day Tests to New Zealand

The first day of the Australia-New Zealand Boxing Day Test saw a crowd of 80,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Roberts added that such crowds meant that there would definitely be more Boxing Day Tests at the MCG. He insisted that New Zealand will not have to wait another 32 years to play a Boxing Day Test at the MCG and ongoing talks with NZC are almost set to guarantee more Boxing Day Tests in the near future between the two nations.

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