Speed stressed instead that the Indian sub-continent is cricket's "unique selling point".

Asia's four Test-playing nations -- India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh -- are major commercial players in the global game, Speed said, and that was one of the reasons the ICC moved its headquarters to nearby Dubai.

Speaking at an Asian Cricket Council seminar on the future of regional cricket Speed said: "The ICC is sometimes criticised, and we read this from time to time and we get very offended by it, that we are biased against Asia and somehow we are alleged to be racist.

"We moved to Asia. It was a deliberate move and there are good reasons to move to Asia. We are only a few hours from Delhi, Karachi, Colombo or Dhaka. We are not far from here (Kuala Lumpur) or South Africa, England, Australia or New Zealand. We can get where we need to be."