The two-tier plan to bring interest back to Test cricket will certainly galvanise the Intercontinental Cup (the first class tournament for non-Test countries), but it needs more work to ensure that the structure of Test cricket is not altered to fit a marketing plan that might not make the slightest difference.
Two years ago the buzzword in cricket was“oligarchy”. Today it is “context”. Test cricket needs context, international series need context, every match must not only stand for itself but be part of the bigger picture.
Hence the proposal for the two-tier system for Tests with seven teams in the top group. The teams play home and away matches in their group over a two-year or four-year cycle (yet to be decided) for the world Test championship. The top team in the lower group gets promoted while the bottom team in the other group is relegated. All very cut-and-dried. This should, according to the International Cricket Council bring the crowds rushing back to watch the longest format of the game which is in some danger of disappearing and hence the need to “do something”.
But Test cricket was never so cut-and-dried. Much of its charm derives from its illogicality, quirkiness, lack of context, apparent absence of a controlling mechanism, and of course the duration itself. It is a version of the game that has usually been seen as anachronistic, long before the birth of the T20.
The first Test world championship was played in 1912 by the three countries that played Tests then —England, Australia, South Africa. It was a disaster. Crowds stayed away in droves despite the context. Perhaps it was an idea that was a century or more ahead of its time. It was never tried again, but that cannot be a reason for not doing it now.
This story is from the June 25, 2016 edition of Sportstar.
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This story is from the June 25, 2016 edition of Sportstar.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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