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Martin Crowe, the former Kiwi Test batsman and a MCC committee member, submitted his proposal to the ICC for a Test Championship based on an annual competition within the next five-year cycle of the Future Tours Programme (FTP), which starts from 2012.
It will be a knock-out open, splitting the top eight nations into two tiers, so the top four play at home and the bottom four play away.
This is to reward consistent Test performance throughout the Future Tours Programme over the last year. These quarter-finals will be played within a six-month period, and played by virtue of a one-off, six-day Test match, so that a result is assured.
If the Test is drawn, then the home side will go through to the semis. The semis will then be staged.
If there is already a schedule as part of the FTP they can choose the Test match from a series that they are playing and nominate it as the semi-final. Another one-off Test match is played to determine the finalists. The final will then be organised, and the highest-ranked team at the time will host that six-day final.
So in total, over the 12-month period, seven Tests are played and a champion is crowned.
During this period, every other Test match is also important as it counts for ranking points to determine the seedings.
Crowe has also suggested that the ICC concentrate just on Test Cricket and Twenty20. He has recommended the 50 overs format be scrapped as three formats, in his view, confuse the public.
We have our expert panel of Spiro Zavos, Vinay Verma, Kersi Meher Homji and Brett McKay to run a fine tooth comb over this proposal.
Spiro: Martin Crowe is an excellent thinker on cricket, on and off the field. He came up with an idea of a shorter form of cricket that had to be different from the real game because of copyright reasons before t20 cricket. If Martin is behind this idea then it will have merit, and in that it promotes Test cricket this must be a good thing for the game.
Kersi: Martin Crowe’s Test Championship idea is an exciting one. But like all good ideas it has a few holes. The one I find most unfair is this: in case of a draw the home team progresses ahead. That “stronger” team already has the advantage of playing on home turf. Why give it a second advantage?
And what happens in case of a drawn semi-final or Final?
A 6-day Test should produce a result. In case of a draw, the side having a first innings lead should be declared a winner. If it rains, extra day(s) should be added.
First thing first!
As I had mentioned in my earlier post, pitches should be uniform, whether a team plays in Perth, Lord’s, Kolkata, Barbados, Wellington or Colombo. I know it is impossible to produce identical wickets everywhere, but the ICC should supervise that there should be a trace of grass on days 1 and 2 and the surface should break up a little on days 4 and onwards.
Then there would be no home advantage.
Also, I suggest that the first round matches should be played on neutral venues.
The country ranked 1 should play country ranked 8, ranked no. 2 to play no.7, no.3 to play no.6 and no. 4 to face no.5. Yes, all matches on neutral venues.
A minimum of 100 overs should be bowled per day. Time wasting should be penalized by run penalty, as suggested by Brett.
Reduce the 50-overs ODIs but not get rid of them. Twenty20 should be restricted to important tournaments (viz. World Twenty20) and IPL banished. National tournaments like Sheffield Shield, English championships, Ranji Trophy etc need some international cricketers from the same country.
That is, Tendulkar should play more Ranji Trophy matches and Ponting more Shield games.
Reducing meaningless ODIs and Twenty20s will give Test regulars more chance to play at first-class level. That means selectors can realistically evaluate how good a newcomer is.
Brett: Why didn’t Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket put Martin Crowe forward for the ICC vice-presidency? He’s an ideas man.
I think this proposal for the Test Championship is brilliant.
If it means that the Future Tours Program needs altering to accommodate it, then so be it. If it means reducing the regularity of pointless ODI and T20I series, even better. The sooner the Test Championship is adopted, the sooner we have meaning in every Test Match played.
And Amen for that.
Six day Tests will almost always produce a result, and while I like the concept of rewarding the top four seeded teams with the home ground, we have to be careful not to completely shut out teams ranked fifth and below.
I wouldn’t mind seeing an opportunity for Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, or even emerging nations like Ireland qualify for eighth spot. And I know this would potentially provide England an unnecessary advantage, but something in me says the Final should only ever be played at Lord’s.
One thing I must disagree with Crowe, though, is the abandonment of ODI cricket. Having nothing between Tests and Twenty20 will do nothing for the traditional game, nor will it do anything for the ability of the players involved.
No ODI cricket will result in Tests never reaching the fourth day, and that would to undo all the good work the Test Championship sets out to achieve.
Vinay: I am delighted that the conversation is moving towards Test cricket. Everything else is a distraction, albeit a necessary distraction. For the last thirty years the shorter forms have contributed, in monetary terms, to the continuing validity of Test cricket. Test cricket is an anachronism in this day and age and for it to survive speaks of its remarkable resilience.
The Test championship will be good for cricket and give it a meaning and context. Even games against Bangladesh take on significance as it will count towards the seedings.
The knockout concept will ensure a chance, though a long shot, at someone like the West Indies or New Zealand upsetting one of the higher ranked teams.
Being an annual event every season will have a climax instead of meandering into trickles over four years.
But it must not stop here. Pitches have to have more life. Bowlers should be allowed more than two bouncers. The UDRS must be mandatory for ALL Tests. India must be taken screaming to the table. Slow over rates must be penalized.
As Brett has suggested, many times, a run penalty will hurt more than dollars.
Night Cricket must be trialed. Test cricket must focus on the younger generation and expose them to the drama, tradition and skill of Test cricket. It has to engage in a meaningful way with its audience. Test cricket needs to “speed” up and get rid of the leather patches on its elbows.
Sometimes Test cricket takes itself too seriously and can be elitist.
Finally, we also need more women in our TV commentary teams. Say Kylie Minogue for the shorter forms and Cate Blanchet for the Tests.
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