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The trials and tribulations of two-tier Test cricket

Roar Guru
21st January, 2014
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Tait is enough - should selectors bring back World Cup specialist Shaun Tait?
Roar Guru
21st January, 2014
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Now that the World Test Championship seems headed for the scrapheap, the ICC are reportedly considering a radical  change to Test cricket which will split nations into two tiers in a promotion/relegation system.

Like all things new, the move will be divisive among cricket fans – from the old guard who scoff at the outrageous lack of respect the batsmen have for their wicket, to the new breed who flick the channel as they wonder why their favourites aren’t trying to slog it out of the park.

Rahul Dravid has deemed it a good idea in principle. On the possibility that countries with a long, proud history of Test cricket, such as the West Indies or New Zealand, may suffer financial losses as well as the game weakening in these nations if they find themselves in the second tier, Dravid has said, “the responsibility lies with these countries, it shouldn’t just be a right [to play Test cricket]… that’s not fair on teams like Ireland or Afghanistan who are making a huge effort to promote the game in those countries.”

It is this belief in earning the right to play Test cricket that Dravid thinks will be the greatest pro of the plan.

“It puts a little bit of pressure to ensure that they do play well enough to earn the right to be in that division,” he said, adding that it creates “light at the end of the tunnel for [teams like] Ireland and Afghanistan.”

The legendary batsmen was not pressed on how he would feel if it was his homeland, the cricketing juggernaut of India, which found itself in that situation.

And that’s where the dividing line between past and future will come back to the fore. Like Dravid, many will sit above the line and believe Test cricket is not a right.

Expanding the game in Associate countries is paramount and they deserve the opportunity to grow and move into the top tier if they play well enough.

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With such a long period of Test cricket behind them, however, do teams like the West Indies deserve to be punished in such a way?

Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe, writing for ESPN Cricinfo, unsurprisingly holds a different opinion to Dravid given New Zealand, alongside the West Indies, have the most to lose should this system come to fruition.

Crowe describes it as “disrespectful” and wonders, like I, if the idea would be entertained if Australia, England or India were the ones at risk of dropping out during their own well-documented periods of struggle.

“It’s not right to abandon upstanding nations, countries that have given their all to prop up the game, to cast them adrift,” writes Crowe.

“There are eight very proud cricketing nations that have earned kudos and respect the world over for their longevity and endeavour, over the course of the game’s history. The eight major teams deserve the chance to bounce back from difficult times.”

The recent news suggests that Australia, England and India will not only have ‘relegation exceptions’ under the proposal, but even more power than they currently hold under a plan to revamp the ICC’s structure.

This provides fuel to any cynics who may view this two-tier system as the ‘big three’ trying to fill up their own coffers by avoiding the less profitable tours of the smaller countries – not that they ever really face them anyway.

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Either way the Associate nations will finally have a clear pathway into Test cricket, which cannot be a bad thing.

Twitter: The_Hoss12

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