Roar Rookie
Joined August 2013
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Masters student from a Dutch university and lover of all things sport.
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International cricket, and in particular Test cricket, is a remarkable and, at times, unfathomable anomaly in modern sport. Despite the International Cricket Council (ICC)…
New Zealand's 53-run victory over the West Indies yesterday sealed a 2-1 series win, and marked the first time in 12 years the Black…
The dramatic loss to Sri Lanka at Headingley means England have now gone winless for eight Test matches. The last time this happened was…
Tomorrow, overshadowed by the hype and glamour surrounding some sporting event in South America, the English Test cricket team will be taking their first…
Upon arriving on South African soil Michael Clarke confidently claimed “this Australian attack is the best in the world”. As with any captain it…
What would the Australian cricket team look like if it was purely chosen based on career statistics? Cricket, perhaps more so than any other…
I wouldn’t say that I just want Ireland to become a test nation. I want the game to grow and thrive in any country. I just used Ireland in my article because it was the obvious example.
I think it’s strict because it expects an associate nation which plays a handful of four day matches a year to defeat a test nation (albeit the weakest test nation) which has the luxury of more frequent international cricket against stronger nations. Arguably no current test nation would have been able to achieve that at the moment they were granted test status. In Ireland’s case of course they are fortunate because they will most likely play a Zimbabwe team which is so writhe with internal issues that I could easily imagine Ireland winning and being welcomed as a test nation in 2019. If Ireland were, however, to lose in a close series, or even worse draw the series, that doesn’t seem a fair reason to say they’re not ready for test matches for another four years.
The rest of the criteria I agree with. A Test nation should have international standard facilities, a strong first-class structure and proven track record against full member nations. I think the issue with the old system, which I also believe was total bollocks, was that it was far too blurred as to what the criteria actually were. Bangladesh and Zimbabwe defeated one test nation each when they achieved test status. In Bangladesh’s case they weren’t even the best associate nation at the time they were elevated to test status. That’s clearly wrong and it’s good the ICC has more strict rules now. I’m not sold that the Test Challenge is necessarily the right solution though.
The ICC is strangling Test cricket
By sanctity I mean the “state and quality” of test cricket. The ICC rightly places test cricket as the pinnacle of the sport and five day cricket is certainly not something any nation can compete in. Basic criteria are therefore a necessity for promotion to test status. However, these current ICC criteria (which are rather strict all things considered) seem to severely hamper the ability of associate members to rise to test status. They also assume that these members must be of a certain standard which very few current test nations were when they were granted test status. New Zealand took 26 years to win their first test match. India took 20 years. They both wouldn’t have become test nations under the current criteria. Dropping a nation in the deep end (as long as they are clearly capable of competing with other test nations) is a good thing and a means to grow the game.
My issue with the ICC test challenge is it was introduced as a concept in 2014, after Ireland had achieved many of those pre-existing criteria you mention. In 2014 Ireland had three grounds capable of hosting international cricket (it now has four), a four team domestic competition which though undoubtedly in its infancy could be considered of first class standard as well as having won the Intercontinental Cup on four of the five occasions prior to the announcement of the test challenge. It had also defeated four test nations by then.
To me the Test challenge, which I’ll happily admit is better than no system for achieving test status, seems like it was implemented to make it as difficult as possible for associate nations to rise to the Test ranks. In the end though it just boils down to two simple questions for me. “Would test cricket suffer if it allowed Ireland to become a test nation tomorrow?” and “Would Ireland be able to compete against the lower ranked test nations?”. I personally believe the answers to those two questions are pretty clear.
The ICC is strangling Test cricket
How good does Manuka look? Surely it’s in line for hosting a test match against one of the lesser teams in the not so distant future. Perhaps as a replacement to Hobart?
[VIDEO] Australia vs South Africa highlights: 3rd ODI live scores, blog
Vikings by 15 – Though they looked awfully underprepared last week. What’s the crowd like?
[VIDEO] Greater Sydney Rams vs Canberra Vikings: NRC highlights, scores, blog
I think Williamson is definitely the natural choice for captain after McCullum retires. He has such a level head on him and is someone who has already proven he will bat his heart out for New Zealand.
The Black Cap revival
Buttler is another option but I can’t see them selecting him yet, especially given his average county record.
Where now for England cricket?
I agree, it’s certainly not ideal, and I’m definitely not suggesting this should be the Australian Test team. Siddle, Harris and a fit Pattinson are currently much better bowlers than both Faulkner and Sayers and undoubtedly deserve their spots in the Australian XI, whilst Hussey will never play test cricket for Australia.
The Sheffield Shield should definitely have more games including Australian players, though this seems unlikely due to the sheer amount of international cricket played in summer and the reluctance of CA to allow national players to play for their state. It’s a real shame as it would raise the standard of the Shield significantly and, as you say, give a much better gauge of which state players are pushing for national selection.
The 'Statistical' Australian XI
Apologies, you are of course right. I remember the concept of seven in Tier 1 and seven in Tier 2 was raised briefly, but they did indeed settle on seven/five in the end. It’s difficult to keep track of ICC plans sometimes!!
The ICC is strangling Test cricket