The ICC approved the World Test Championship (WTC) in 2010 and after two failed attempts in 2013 and 2017 launched it on 29 July 2019. But did anyone notice?
The league table currently has Sri Lanka on top with 60 points due to their home win over New Zealand in Galle last week. Australia sits second on 32 points after their Edgbaston win and Lord’s draw. England sits third with eight points for their Lord’s draw.
Points are allocated for wins, ties and draws with a maximum of 120 points per series. It’s a convoluted process – does the ICC know any other way? – because different points are allocated for those wins, ties and draws depending on whether a bilateral series is two, three, four or five Tests. There are no points for a series win, but the series wins counts if teams are tied for points when trying to determine finalists.
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So is the WTC the long-awaited determination of the best Test-playing nation for 2019-21? Will the two combatants in the final at Lord’s in June 2021 be able to brag that they are the best Test-playing nations, having beaten all comers?
Well, no. In fact they won’t have played all nations; they will play only six of the other 11 Test-playing nations. Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe, while full members of the ICC, have not been included as they’re the lowest-ranked Test nations. That leaves nine competing nations, and the championship then consists of playing only six of the other eight nations in the two-year period.
At least all teams will play the same number of Tests to qualify, right?
No, wrong again!
That’s the reason for the convoluted points system above. In fact current ladder leader Sri Lanka and Pakistan are in the box seat for finalist positions as they’ll play only 13 matches each in the championship period. Sri Lanka will not play Australia and neither nation will have to play India, with Pakistan not playing India for the first two versions of the WTC.
During the tournament England will play 22 Tests, Australia 19 Tests and India 18 Tests. That’s due to those nations maximising earning potential by having four or five-Test series against each other. The only other four-match series outside these nations is a four-match series South Africa will host against England. Sri Lanka will play only one three-Test series, with their other five being two-Test series.
All this makes you wonder why the ICC actually decided on a Championship at all and why there have been two false starts. To complicate it further, the men’s future tours programme runs concurrently in 2018-23, which allows the three excluded Test nations to play WTC nations, albeit without having any impact on the championship other than crowding the schedules.
Herein lies the issue for Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe: how do they improve their ranking and, more importantly, their Test experience if they have to beg for a Test to be crammed into schedules already set around the extended domestic seasons of other nations, with prime position now given to domestic T20 competitions? Although Ireland and Afghanistan will play 12 Tests in this period while Zimbabwe plays 21, the majority will be against each other.
Surely that makes them feel like second-class citizens? They’re apparently full Test members in name only. It’s a perplexing decision on the back of a nine-team ICC One-day World Cup. If Ireland, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan were deemed ready for full-member status, surely that should mean full playing status too.
While Ireland was shoehorned into England’s ridiculously overcrowded summer schedule to provide a four-day Test – is there such a thing already? – to tune up before the Ashes, you have to question where Australia will find the time not only to play these new full members as the FTP dictates also but also, more importantly, to freshen up and expand the strength and reach of international cricket and Tests in particular.
There’s an old cliche that goes ‘cricket was the winner’. That cliche seemed to ring true in the recent Jofra Archer-Steve Smith contest. At this stage, though, I find it hard to equate it with the ICC World Test Championship concept, even if the final were the greatest Test ever played.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
I was thinking commentaries when playing, so talk about selection etc, then go historic or more general pieces during the quite times
Paul
Roar Guru
What categories do you think you'd prefer to write about? Historical pieces about memorable games or players, commentary on current games, commentary on current players, pieces about how the games is run & suggestions for improvement, etc. You've got a raft of choices, so if you had any preferences, perhaps some ideas could flow back to you?
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
I was thinking of writing weekly articles, so I am open to content ideas
Paul
Roar Guru
I wrote a piece a few months ago, suggesting exactly what you're proposing, Noah. Everything works for playing cricket in the north in the southern winter and I agree, it would certainly help some of the weaker nations to improve their game if CA would commit to getting some Tests into Darwin & Cairns.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
The main issue would be someone standing up to the BCCI or the IPL, if they can't, we can look at winter test matches, but I think that we should play at least two test against the weaker test nations, OR let them play full strength shield sides
Simoc
Guest
The whole things b/s. No-one cares. Australia need to smash the Poms and they need to beat us. Likewise with India and Pakistan. The other games draw interest at best but no one really cares. Sport is best with tribal battles which we had at school with a rival top school. At the Freo Dockers beating West Coast Eagles twice every season would be enough to keep 40000plus fans coming back every year. But the rankings thing in all sports gives writers another chance to earn an income by writing an opinion and hopefully someone pays for it. Good luck.
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
It’s a good suggestion Noah, as the Future tours program runs concurrently with the WTC and Australia has to play Tests against the bottom 3 under that program sometime before 2023, so a window needs to be found. The problem for Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland though is they’re in danger of playing an Aussie 2nd XI, because even though their teams wouldn’t be affected, the top Aussie players would be lobbying CA to play for their IPL teams to maximise their incomes. It’s such a crowded schedule now, but instead of a ‘pre-season’ Oct camp they could easily play these teams in Darwin or Cairns for a 2 test series.
Paul
Roar Guru
what sort of series would you like to see, Noah? A Test series only, a short format series or a mixture of Tests and T20/ODIs? Remember of course, the longer a series goes, the harder it is to both schedule and break even financially.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
Great article, you raise some very fine points I have been talking about myself. The WTC is a money making machine for the ICC with importance placed on T20, especially the IPL. I would love for one day a big team like England and Australia to schedule a series against a team like Zimbabwe or Ireland during the IPL schedule, as they do not have many, if not any, IPL players
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
To be honest with you, I think the test championship has passed most fans by. I haven't read anything about it (apart from your article), seen anything on TV or heard anything on the radio. It's unequal, complicated and just useless all round. Because nothing says cricket like uselessness and complications. And they wonder why nobody wants to watch cricket...
Rellum
Roar Guru
I did use the world hopefully. If it starts to get interest going with the final then I think we might see some change in the third or forth instalment.
Paul
Roar Guru
hat's off to you for battling through that legalese, I2I, but more to the point putting into a format that makes sense. I'd reckon only a few lawyers would take any joy in reading that.
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Thanks Paul, I didn’t include the full convoluted process, so that I didn’t completely put readers to sleep – all but Duckworth & Lewis that is. The editor has a link to the points process for anyone battling insomnia and I believe it’s to be added. The following is why I feel it is convoluted. ” Depending on whether the series is 2, 3, 4 or 5 matches long, the number of points awarded for a single match win will be a half, a third, a quarter, or a fifth of the maximum possible from the series. The ICC also decided that a tie should be worth half of a win and that a draw should be worth a third of a win.[10] This all means that after each match, a side could be awarded a half, a third, a quarter, a fifth, a sixth, an eighth, a ninth, a tenth, a twelfth or a fifteenth of the total points available from the series, depending on the result and how many matches the series happens to consist of. Ultimately, this means a figure for the total points available from the series needs to be picked very carefully, as not many numbers give all integers when split into all these different fractions (360 does). Being a highly composite number, when 120 is split into all these fractions, an integer is obtained in all cases except one – the points awarded for a draw in a 3-match series should be 131⁄3 (a third of a third of 120), but the 1⁄3 has been dropped.” Riveting, Hey? ————- You seemed to pick up on my main concern though, “if the two 2 teams in world cricket in 2022 are India and Australia, but Pakistan & the West Indies ( currently 7th & 8th) play in the final”.
Paul
Roar Guru
I enjoyed reading this I2I, though I've had to go back a few times to different parts to understand exactly how this works. That's not because of your writing, but because the whole system's so complicated. It's obviously early days in the Championship process, so it's hard to be too critical about something that's brand new. The finale though, should be between the two teams that have been the most consistent across the 3 or 4 years. It also should coincide with where these teams are on the ICC World rankings. In other words, if the two 2 teams in world cricket in 2022 are India and Australia, but Pakistan & the West Indies ( currently 7th & 8th) play in the final, clearly the points system is broken and needs some tweaking. As a side thought, I like the way the women decide the Ashes, with points for T20's, ODI's & Tests. Not sure why a similar process wasn't used here - except it's the Test Championship, of course!
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
The glacial movement of the ICC on anything of consequence, means they're highly unlikely to make meaningful changes after one tournament. It took them three attempts to get up and running as it is.
aggreteddrupe
Guest
Sadly the state of test cricket worldwide means a completely 'fair' test championship is nowhere near economically viable. Either you are asking minnow nations to play lots of tests against each other at a significant loss, or yo are asking the big three to play less test matches and lose a large amount of potential revenue. The current test championship format is a compromise, and although it's not perfect ( I would have loved bonus points for away wins), it's certainly better than nothing, and hopefully has the effect of drawing more people towards test cricket.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
I have always found the current ranking system to have a lot of credibility amongst players and fans. All teams have taken the nr 1 Test ranking far more seriously than the ODI or T20 rankings. Probably the absence of a World Championship tournament where a team can be crowned World Champions but are not the nr 1 ranked team is the reason… So why mess with that. Think it should be left alone but declining interest in 5 day format probably moved the idea along.
Rellum
Roar Guru
I think you need to see the new Test Championship with the glass half full. Yes it is very poorly structured and it clearly favors the big three but, at last we have a Test Championship!! Hopefully after the first one they start to re-jig it to have a more even contest. I still favor a 6 or 8 team series over two years. With the another 6-8 second tier comp going at the same time with promotion and relegation.