'Big three' ICC revamp plan tone arrogant, high handed: Atherton

Former England captain Michael Atherton has hit out at India, England and Australia's plan to jointly-control the International Cricket Council, saying the proposals recalled a time when the cricket governing body was known as the "Imperial Cricket Conference."

India is the main player in the entire revamp plan, as they generate 80 percent of world cricket's income and want a greater share of revenue.

Australia and England will also benefit immensely if the plan is passed.

Writing for his column in the Times, Atherton advised those at the helm of affairs to take guidance from the 2012 Woolf Report, ICC's independent governance review, which proposed sweeping changes to the way the game of cricket was being run. The report also called for the ICC's executive board to be independent and free from the clutches of the bigger nations.

A year later, it turns out that the BCCI, Cricket Australia and ECB or the 'Big three', as they are being referred to, are increasing pressure on the ICC to give them complete control of the way things should operate.

Atherton said the tone of the proposal is arrogant and high-handed and it recalls an earlier age when the organisation began as the Imperial Cricket Conference.

The former England skipper was also critical of the way the ICC was being run and was of the opinion that the current scenario was inevitable, The Dawn reports.

Atherton also urged the Indian cricket board to become a fully engaged and interested party to world cricket.

Australia, India and England have formed a controversial alliance which will attempt to control the ICC at a meeting in Dubai on January 28 and 29.

Pakistan's former ICC president Ehsan Mani had claimed that if passed, the new system would take around 312 million dollar in potential earnings from smaller nations to essentially line the pockets of India, Australia and England.