Desk Report,
ICC forms committee to divide Test cricket into two tiers
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has formed a working group to examine the feasibility of introducing two tiers in Test cricket. This working group will submit a report by the end of this year, on the basis of which a decision will be taken to introduce two tiers in Test cricket.
ICC forms committee to divide Test cricket into two tiers
If two tiers are introduced in Test cricket, the lower ranked teams including Bangladesh, Pakistan, West Indies will not get the opportunity to play against the higher ranked teams India, Australia and England for a certain period of time. This system is likely to be introduced from 2027. Currently, a total of 12 countries can play Tests as full members of the ICC. Of these, 9 play the World Test Championship. However, discussions have been going on for a long time to introduce two tiers in Test cricket, citing all these reasons: the matches of the lower ranked teams are not competitive and are not financially profitable. The matter gained momentum during the discussions between Cricket Australia (CA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) during the Women’s Ashes last January.
According to the Guardian of the UK, Cricket Australia is strongly interested in introducing two tiers in Tests. The board wants Australia, India and England to play two series against each other every three years, up from two every four years at present. However, the ECB is reportedly trying to be a bit more cautious about such a proposal, the media reported. The discussion on two-tier Tests between England and Australia has been the subject of discussion at this year’s ICC annual meeting. A working group was formed at the four-day meeting in Singapore to make recommendations on two-tier Tests. The eight-member committee will be headed by ICC’s newly appointed chief executive Sanjay Gupta. Other members include Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg and ECB chief executive Richard Gould.
The Guardian report said that the presence of Gupta, Gould and Greenberg in the working group indicates that the two-tier model is likely to be adopted. However, its success will depend on the detailed implementation of their proposal. Two-thirds of the 12 full members of Test cricket would need to vote in favour. This means that more than one team would have to agree to the possibility of dropping to the second tier. In that case, the big challenge could be to reach a consensus on the promotion and relegation system between the two tiers. No team would want to stay in the relegation zone for a long time, and if the Test Championship is taken as the criterion, a team would have to wait two years for promotion.
Again, if the second tier teams do not get the kind of financial benefits that come from hosting home matches against teams like India and Australia, they will suffer. In this case, the amount of financial support for these teams may have to be increased.
According to the current ICC rankings, if six teams are ranked, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India, Australia and England will be at the top. The second tier will be Bangladesh, Ireland, Afghanistan, Pakistan, West Indies and Zimbabwe.
