Pakistan will host the next edition of the Asia Cup in 2006 between October-December even as the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) said it had decided to revive the Asian Test championships from next year onwards to give a boost to the game in the region.
Mohammad Ashraful Haq, chief executive of the ACC, said, the Asian Test championships and the Asia Cup would be continued till 2010 so that one of these events falls in a cricket calendar every year.
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The 10-year Fixtures programme of the International Cricket Council (ICC) is a spanner to this vision as the busy calendar hardly leaves free time for the four Test-playing nations in the Asian sub-continent.
Haq was hopeful they could work around the scheduling to make the Asian Test championships a regular feature.
As far as venues are concerned, Haq foresees a situation where Asia Cup would be taken around the lesser nations of the continent in years to come to promote the game in the region.
It could thus be the turn of countries like Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Nepal to host Asia Cup in future.
Haq said ACC would request the ICC to incorporate the results of the Asian Test Championships in its yearly rating, so that it could reflect on the progress of the Test-playing nations from the region.
The ACC was also planning to give television rights on the basis of bids to any one of the interested channels till 2010.
The ACC will host its general body meeting in Colombo on August 1 where among other things, the matter of distribution of money to participating teams will also be decided.
It is learnt both UAE and Hong Kong will receive $100,000 each for participating in the tournament. The rest of the amount will be distributed between the four Test-playing nation.
The entire profits from television rights and other income, it is believed, amounts to $29 million from the present Asia Cup.
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