The attention of the cricketing universe has been trained onto the World Cup in England and Wales, but when the dust settles on the tournament, Test cricket will press itself forward again.
Test cricket’s ultimate contest, the Ashes, follows hot on the heels of the World Cup – and will also serve as England and Australia’s first outings in the all-new World Test Championship.
The World Test Championship is the International Cricket Council’s desperate bid to give context to Test cricket – and ensure that the game’s ultimate format survives. The first series of the Championship is likely to be the visit of New Zealand to Sri Lanka for a two-match series.
It is hoped that the Championship might help to kill off dead rubbers, with points awarded for individual match victories, not series results.
The same number of points will be available from each series, regardless of length, so that countries that play fewer Tests are not disadvantaged. Each series will carry 120 points, with the minimum length of a series being two matches and the maximum five.
The ICC has made it clear that it sees T20I cricket as the vehicle for the expansion of the game into new territory, while the Test Championship appears to be designed to reinforce cricket’s existing elite.
Nine teams will compete in the inaugural championship, with full members Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan excluded.
Those who govern the game believe that Test cricket can only survive if it represents the sport’s elite athletes competing in it’s ultimate contest.
The problem with the World Test Championship is that the team’s don’t all play each other. The nine member nations came to agreements over who would play each other. While the number of series played will be equal, the amount of matches will vary wildly.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka will play just 13 Tests in the Championship, while England will play 22. India and Australia follow with 18 matches each.
The tournament is lopsided, but it is unclear if playing more matches will provide any advantage. Logically, one would expect that each match would be less significant, the more matches a team plays. On the other hand, teams that play fewer matches could wind up grabbing more points for the odd upset win.
South Africa may have already shot themselves in the foot by agreeing to play two of their three away series in Asia, facing India in October 2019 and Pakistan in January 2021. The Pakistan Cricket Board are trying to persuade the Proteas to play the two-Test series in Pakistan. The Proteas’ other away series will be a visit to the Caribbean to face the West Indies in two Tests in July 2020. England, Australia and Sri Lanka will visit South Africa for WTC matches.
The World Test Championship will conclude in 2021, but only time will tell if it will capture the attention of fans and help keep the longest format of the game alive.
Written by @JonhenryWilson
