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Test cricket league: Here we go again

Peter Handscomb has big gloves to fill. (AAP Image/Paul Miller)
Roar Guru
11th February, 2017
5

The world is ready for a proper Test cricket championship, but it has to be done properly.

Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland has been talking up the prospects of a Test cricket league again this week in the Aussie press.

Different to the current ICC Test Championship (basically just a ranking system) this would be a Test cricket championship in the true sense of the term.

The details are still to be hammered out but, according to an ABC interview with Sutherland on Saturday, the tournament could take place across a couple of years with nine nations playing each other once, collecting points along the way, in series of differing lengths.

At the end of that period, a grand final would be staged between the top two teams and the winner would be declared the champion.

In my opinion, it’s an absolute no-brainer.

It’s time for the game’s top administrators to stop stuffing around on this issue while Twenty20 cricket crashes onwards, and crowds at Test matches dwindle.

And, if the plan all sounds familiar, it’s because it is. This is not the first time that cricket authorities have openly discussed a Test league, as they fight desperately to give the long format relevance in a new world of national Twenty20 competitions, with dancing cheerleaders and six-hitting records.

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The first time it was discussed – in recent times at least – was in 2009, but there have been cancellations and postponements ever since. Apparently, there were issues on funding the competition and getting the agreement of broadcasters. Once again, the tail was wagging the dog, it seems.

Stephen O'Keefe celebrates Australia

Now that the idea is back on the agenda again with the ICC, problems are already being flagged. There should be no changes to series against India and England, Cricket Australia has reportedly said. Fans and broadcasters don’t want to lose the holiday Tests in the Aussie summer, either.

But, if every country takes this attitude, this idea will never get off the ground. Many nations love to host cricket matches around New Years Eve and Boxing Day – think of South Africa and New Zealand too. Everyone would love a five-match Test series against India, to maximise their TV income.

If cricket wants to truly think globally – not just become global – it needs its national governing bodies to compromise on an international level. What about a Boxing Day Test against New Zealand in Melbourne, and a New Years Test across the ditch? Whoever wins the two-match series, grabs the points and we all move on.

Then three weeks later, we head to South Africa to play a one off Test or maybe two, before our boys return to play the second leg a week later back on Aussie shores. That would still be a decent summer of Test cricket.

The traditional format of long Test series, which was based around the idea of jumping on a steam boat and heading across the world for half a year, is now old hat. It’s also hard for newcomers to the sport to follow and there is barely enough space on the calendar to fit these mega series in any more.

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That the idea of a Test cricket league has remained alive for so long is testament to the fact that it’s obviously the best way to give Test cricket the oomph it desperately needs.

The time to act is now, and the competition needs to be truly inclusive including all countries who have earned the right to play the toughest form of the game.

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