The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has called for “urgent intervention” to protect international cricket, saying it is at an “important crossroads” amid a crowded global schedule that is getting increasingly swayed by domestic franchise leagues.

The mushrooming of such leagues, including the latest offering of SAT20 and ILT20, is putting a lot of stress on the ICC’s Future Tours Programme (FTP), leading to an “alarming disparity” in the number of matches played by a minority of member nations which is neither “equitable nor sustainable”, it added.

While the Big Three — India, Australia and England — get the lion’s share of international assignments, smaller Test-playing nations such as Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe, among others, get a raw deal because of the extremely tight FTP.

MCC said the purpose of its world cricket committee meeting held in Dubai recently “was to examine how international cricket can be protected, amidst a global cricketing schedule that is increasingly filled with short-form franchise tournaments”, and “what global cricket might look like in 10 years’ time should it be left to evolve organically”.

“The men’s cricket schedule in 2023 is saturated with franchise competitions, which overlay and compete with the ICC Future Tours Programme of bilateral international cricket, recently released until 2027. The only gap in the combined schedules this year is in October and November, when the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup takes place in India,” MCC said in a statement on Friday.

“This trend is repeated annually, with constant overlap between international and franchise cricket, and the only clear air created for ICC Global tournaments. Of the domestic tournaments, only the Indian Premier League commands anything like a window to avoid international clashes.

“Also notable in the new men’s FTP is an alarming and growing disparity in the amount of international cricket played by a minority of member nations compared to others; a situation which is clearly neither equitable nor sustainable.”

The MCC said that the financial windfall should percolate to every single ICC member.

Mike Gatting, the chair of the committee, said: “Bilateral cricket, and indeed Test cricket, is more popular in some parts of the world than others. With this in mind, we need to ensure that funding is more evenly distributed across the member nations. It is inconceivable that the game’s heart and soul can be affluent in some countries and almost unaffordable in others.”

Besides Gatting, the world cricket committee comprises Sourav Ganguly, Alastair Cook, Kumar Dharmasena, Justin Langer, Ramiz Raja, Kumar Sangakkara and Graeme Smith.

Former India captain Sourav said it is imperative to find a balance between franchise cricket and Tests. “I still believe that Test is the biggest platform for cricket. That is where you find the great players, and that is why it is called a Test. It is a test of skill.

“That should always continue to be the pinnacle and I am sure that countries will give importance to it and find the right balance between franchise cricket and Test cricket,” said Sourav.