Addressing the widening gap between the Test playing countries of world cricket and its associate members is one of the main challenges facing Dr. Ali Bacher's International Development Committee.

And competition from other sports for television and newspaper space, even in the Test playing countries, means that the sport of cricket must now fight harder for sponsorship dollars, said Bacher, who is in Bermuda this week for talks with Government and cricket officials.

Bacher, who was instrumental in having South Africa accepted back in the cricket fold after years of isolation, is chairman of the ICC's new Development Committee, which also contains Julian Hunte, vice president of the West Indies Cricket Board, Majid Khan, former Pakistan Test captain, Roger Knight, secretary of the MCC and Joe Bazaglo, chairman of the Associate members, and Ash Haq of Bangladesh.

It will spend a busy nine months looking at ways to develop the game among the smaller and non Test-playing countries.

"We've targeted about 12 countries initially, but we can't come up with solutions in the committee room, you've got to go out to the coutries to see what's happening. and that's why I've come to Bermuda,'' he said yesterday.

"So all members over the next nine months will be going to various countries to meet with Government Ministers, Ministers of sports, the Board of Control, directors of cricket and the coaches to have a look at facilities and speak with sponsors.'' In the short time he has been in Bermuda -- arriving on Monday and leaving today -- Bacher has met with BCBC officials, visited club grounds and talked with national coach Allan Douglas. Yesterday, after a luncheon hosted by the board, he met with Sports Minister, Tim Smith, when he voiced some of his ideas on how Bermuda's cricket can be improved.

"One of the major problems I found out here is the lack of television exposure,'' said Bacher. "It is fundamental that if you are going to become high profile to grow you have got to have television support and I will be conveying that to the Minister of Sports,'' Bacher said.

"Without television support you can't get sponsors and without sponsors you can't finance expansion programmes.'' Bacher also suggested to that the island have its own major cricket ground, instead of sharing facilities with other sports.

Bacher referred to this year's World Cup to support the general belief that the gulf between the nine Test Playing countries and the 23 Associate members is widening.

"Kenya had one terrific performance but all the other matches involving Holland, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates were mismatches,'' he said.

And at 1999 World Cup in England, where three Associate members will again participate after qualifying in Malaysia, the same could happen, Bacher said.

"What our committee has got to do is come up with a formula or strategy to do two things; broaden the base and get more people playing cricket and secondly to look to new markets to truly become a global sport,'' Bacher said.

"Also at the same time come up with a strategy to uplift the standards so that those countries going to the 1999 World Cup can compete on equal terms with South Africa and the West Indies.'' A creative strategy in his own country a decade ago has enabled cricket officials to spread the game of cricket to the black townships.

As a result, of the 14 members of South Africa's squad for the under-15 World Cup this month in England, five are from disadvantaged communities and are in the team on merit.

"It's a miracle what's happened there, but things don't just happen, you have to make them happen,'' says Bacher, who is employed fulltime by the United Cricket Board of South Africa.

"We moved into new markets in South Africa and we must do the same internationally.'' Bacher spoke of Antigua, a country not much bigger in population than Bermuda that has produced some of the world's top cricketers.

"If a country like Antigua with 75,000 can produce some of the greatest cricketers the world has seen then there is no reason why the same can't happen in Bermuda,'' Bacher said.

Dr. Ali Bacher