For some days I have been contemplating the decision of Bangladesh Cricket Board, which was followed by BCCI and the Sri Lankan Cricket Board, to oppose the proposed two-tier league by the International Cricket Council.
Much of the excuse was inevitably because it would mean the Bangladesh, like Zimbabawe and perhaps even the West Indies would be relegated to the second league. As for the other top countries they can still survive at the top, for the time being.
Empty crowds are far too often seen in South Africa, West Indies, Zimbabwe and some times even in Sri Lanka, clearly indicating the interest for Test cricket is dropping even in the better Test-playing countries.
Even the crowd attraction in India has dropped as well, especially in the northern part, as other sports are like kabaddi and hockey are dominating all season. Unlike the IPL or any other shorter version games, Test cricket viewership has dropped.
At this point, ICC introduces quite a number of flexible, innovative strategies to combat the dwindling viewership numbers. It is still expected there would be a Champions Trophy for the top eight Test teams in late 2017 and pink-ball ‘Day-Night’ Test trials are being held.
The third move they brought in was the proposal of a two-tier league.
The first tier would have seven teams ranked from one to seven and the second a five-team league which could be expanded if situation arises where there is more competition between the lower, associate teams.
If West indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabawe suffer the drop they would potentially be joined by Ireland and Afghanistan.
The final draft would be comprising the next seven teams who would be given Test cricket status.
There are currently 105 countries playing the game in the shorter T-20 version. The ICC hopes to bring in a third of them to play 50-over game and finally rank-wise give 18 countries Test cricket status (including the ones that currently play).
As per the thumbnail sketch of the proposal, two teams would be relegated every year from each league. One from the next lower league getting direct qualification and a play-off would be played between the next-ranked team in the lower league and the second-bottom team from the previous tier.
Not only will it bring even competition on display, but at the same time, prevent hapless teams like the Windies Test team from getting battered in under three days. Rather than seeing the same West Indies team, we can also see more of Ireland and Afghanistan in the higher leagues, gaining some experience from the top teams.
As Richardson put it, “They will all be striving for something. There’s something at stake”, which is exactly why this two-tier system is one step better.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Like I wrote here (in probably the first topic on this subject on The Roar - "saving Test Cricket - is the Michael Vaughan way the right one" or something to that effect) a month or so ago, I support this two tier system for exactly the reasons enumerated above. For once, Johnno and I are in disagreement on this I Guess ? There was an extremely interesting exchange of ideas in the comments section there where much of this was brought out. What amazes me is the BCCI opposing it. That makes absolutely no sense. Anurag Thakur is a sensible guy. I am sure he can see the future of test cricket loud and clear and that this is necessary. And Paul D I know India's relegation is an issue and I would agree. But one has to take that chance whatever the economic ramifications.
craig swanson
Guest
Do you have a crystal ball? The purists in the cricket community will not let test cricket die. It will survive even if only England, Australia and New Zealand play it. The ICC has opened the door. It is now up to the fringe test countries to walk thru that door.
Sydneysider
Guest
Yes I was referring to test cricket. T20 is where the future growth of the game is. If the game is to grow outside of its historical commonwealth boundaries, then T20 is the format that will do it. Test cricket and to a lesser extent one day cricket won't get the required expansion.
Craig Swanson
Guest
Not so. If you are talking about test cricket ..correct. But there are also somewhere between 80- 100 other countries playing cricket of some format or other thruout the world. There are more than 30 European countries alone.The game is taking off in Asia...in particular China which now has cricket in schools. Many of these nations would be champing at the bit to play test cricket in say a decade or so... can lay bets and now that the ICC has opened the door for them they will be even more keen.
Craig Swanson
Guest
Quite right Tanmoy. If these minnow teams want to improve they have to earn the right to play the top sides. I can see Australia playing Ireland down the track, possibly, Afghanistan or Nepal or Scotland whoever is promoted to test status. The doom sayers should button it and accept that this is the way ahead for test cricket.
Sydneysider
Guest
The game probably needs it but when you've only got 8 to 10 countries playing the game (I would argue about the strength of those 8 to 10), there isn't much else. Too many formats and too little countries playing the game.
Paul D
Roar Guru
It’s a great idea until India gets relegated.
Anthony Condon
Roar Pro
The money for the lower ranked teams will better come from a better share of ICC income, not being thrashed by South Africa or Australia in a home series. That's my opinion, anyway. Economic analysis shows the best crowds come to see strong teams in close matches. Having a weak test team thrashed doesn't bring the crowds. Having better matched teams gives them a better chance to improve (again, in my opinion), as they'll get to play a test match in test conditions, rather than just spend two days standing in a field getting thumped.
Anthony Condon
Roar Pro
Crowds are stable (and strong) in South Africa, they've never been good in Sri Lanka or Bangladesh, and they're growing in Australia and England. I can't find figures for NZ, and the drop in the West Indies is a) not across all venues and b) possibly explained by a lack of quality test cricket being played (which is a board management issue IMO). There is a drop in India, as there is for all cricket. When people say "Test cricket is dying" I want to see it come with stats, rather than just a rant about T20, because from my research (and I've put more hours into this this year than I can really justify) it's not actually a thing.
Anthony Condon
Roar Pro
ODI viewership has dropped more in India (-20%) in 2008-2014, than Tests (-17.5%). IPL is down 4% and T20I 1%. So it's a problem with cricket in general in India, not just Test cricket. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-04-20/news/61339546_1_india-s-test-cricket-indian-premier-league SuperSport2 in South Africa is almost entirely cricket. I'm not going to sit down and do the stats like I did in this article http://www.theroar.com.au/2016/04/07/curmudgeon-test-cricket-dead/ but it wouldn't surprise me to see that cricket in South Africa is also not in the dire straits some people assume it is. It seems barely a week goes by when someone doesn't write test cricket's obituary, regardless of the fact that it's getting stronger in Australia. In England test viewership numbers have plummeted in the last decade. Not surprisingly, that happened at the exact moment when test cricket moved from free to air to pay TV. All that is to say that articles about people not watching test cricket need to be taken with a grain of salt, because like almost everything else in cricket, people misremember about a "golden age" when things were better. Having said that, I like the two tier system, because I think it offers a great opportunity to expand the game to more nations and to increase the quality of cricket being played. I think for those teams playing in the second tier, playing in competitive series will do more for team development than being thrashed by one of the leading nations (not to mention the number of test nations will increase by 3). I also think that it will be better for the spectacle of the game to not have heavily one sided series.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
The lower ranked teams like West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangla Desh will oppose two-tier system for obvious reasons. Let them get thrashed by top ranked teams in the next couple of years, then they will realize the necessity of two-tier league.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
I agree with you Craig, two-tier system will bring competition in Test cricket in both the division for promotion & demotion. Obviously the lower ranked teams will oppose the idea, but this is the only solution which ICC should force to implement. One can not imagine Australia, India, England playing Test matches against Zimbabwe, Ireland or Afghanistan.
Craig Swanson
Guest
I see this as the only real solution to reviving test cricket. Cricket must become a globalised game for it to survive against other stronger cricket formats as well as world sports like rugby and football. I see this as only the beginning with scope to increase the format to many more teams over the coming years. If teams like Bangladesh or Zimbabwe or even Sri Lanka are demoted to the second tier of the proposed new format... so be it. . It has been done because of its current world ranking. It is then up to these demoted sides to fight their way back to the first tier and relegate someone else to the second tier. I like the idea. It will inject new life into test cricket.
Johnno
Guest
Well said Niranjan. Irealand/Afghans/Canada/Nepal need money to get better, playing crap Teams in Test-cricket won't bring in the cash, hence making it tough to spend on Test cricket. Nepal is too poor to get good at Test cricket, and Afghans probably to. Ireland/Canada/UAE might make it in Test-cricket. T-20 is healthy long-term, test cricket needs solutions to survive, but a 2-tier promo/relegation system is not the answer I think.
Mahee Hossain
Guest
Quite the opposite probably, hardly anyone watches cricket in Ireland. However, around millions of Bangladeshis are cricket fans, and same goes for Sri Lanka. Bangladesh is so cricket crazy, their Prime Minister declared a National Holiday for the day they won the Asian Cup, as everyone was too busy celebrating to go to work. TV Ratings are much higher in Bangladesh than Ireland, and stadiums actually can get filled in Bangladesh.
Niranjan Deodhar
Roar Pro
Two tier system proposal looks to be a good deall on paper, but its execution will only hamper the lower ranked teams. As far as crowd support is concerned, the crowds for WI Vs India Tests way back even in 2006 in the caribbean were disappointing with majority of stands being empty. So, if suppose there happens to be a Test match between Zimbabwe and West Indies in Harare, how many people would turn up remains to a big question. Yes the two-tier system might create a fair competition in terms of strengths and weaknesses but that would also mean that the new teams like Ireland and Afghanistan may take ages to face stronger teams like England, South Africa, Australia, India and that can hamper their progress in the long run. The only way these teams can improve is by playing better opponents and in that way the emerging teams can know about the hard grind that Test Cricket brings to the table at the early stages itself which will go a long way in making these teams better and stronger.
Johnno
Guest
I;m not a fan of proposed new formats of promotion/relegation. i only see it as the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer. Either way long-term I only see Eng/Aust/India haveing a future in Test-cricket. So expensive test cricket, you have to have the money to run a 1st-class cricket competition that makes no money. Plus now dwindling crowds for test everywhere except Aust/Eng. But then again TV ratings is where money is made etc. Ireland have a better test cricket future than say West Indies/Sri Lanka/Zimbs/Bangladesh etc.