Lloyd Calls For World Championships In Tests (19 Nov 1996)

19 November 1996

Lloyd calls for world championship in Tests

Come November 22, Australia and the West Indies lock horns in a five Test series for the Frank Worrell Trophy.

In Australia, this series is being billed as the Decider - the one that will settle the dispute about which of the two has the right to call themselves, even if only unofficially, the world champions of Test cricket.

West Indies manager Clive Lloyd, though, is none too enamoured of the `unofficial` qualifier. ``We are not playing unofficial Tests here," he points out. "So it is about time we put in place a mechanism for playing for the championship of the world."

Lloyd argues that such a championship is overdue, given that it is for his performances in Test cricket, and not the one day variety, that a player is finally known for. ``Test cricket is what you`re known for," says the former Windies Test skipper. "Nobody`s known for doing anything in the one-day scene. Test cricket is the ultimate."

Lloyd says that a situation like now, where three or more teams consider themselves the world champions at the longer version of the game, is "stupid".

And it`s only going to get worse. The ongoing season - the busiest ever in the history of international cricket - will see a further 33 Tests, spanning 12 series involving all nine Test playing nations, is on the agenda, not to mention the usual - make that unusual - quota of one-dayers.

In each series, there are winners and losers - and at no point is it clear which, of the nine nations, is the pre-eminent one in the longer version of the game.

Lloyd`s argument was, in fact, first mooted by Wisden editor Matthew Engel. "Test cricket is in total disarray," says Engel.

His solution? Award points for each series, with the winning team receiving two points and one point being awarded to each side for a drawn series.

Step two, make it mandatory for each of the nine Test nations to play all the others, both at home and away, over a four year cycle. ``Under this plan," the Wisden honcho argues, "the championship would be continuous. Each series would remain in the table until the identical series was played in the next cycle.``

Interestingly, the likes of Lloyd and Engel are now finding support where it matters - the International Cricket Council. ICC boss David Richards said the question of a world championship for Tests was on the council`s immediate agenda.

``A Test championship is attractive, and it is a logical progression in the game,`` Richards said in London. "I hope it is put in place within the coming year."

Meanwhile, the prevailing chaos is on the verge of becoming worse confounded. South Africa, now ranked number one by Wisden, will meet India, co-ranked number four with Pakistan over three Tests in India, followed by three more in South Africa.

The India-South Africa series begins Wednesday November 20 - the same day as Pakistan, the joint number four, plays ninth ranked New Zealand. And two days later, Australia and West Indies, now ranked joint number two, begin a five Test series.

At the end of it all, the arguments about who the world champions of the longer version are will only escalate.

Earlier this year, for instance, England beat India. Pakistan, jointly ranked number four with India, then beat England. Meanwhile, India in a one-off Test beat Australia - which, in late 1995-early 1996, had beaten Pakistan. Meanwhile, Australia is about to defend the Frank Worrell Trophy which it won, with a 2-1 margin, from the Windies the last time the two sides met.

So who, in this crazy game of King of the Castle, is on top as of now?

Meanwhile, Windies manager Clive Lloyd`s mind is set on more urgent matters - namely, the upcoming Test series against Australia. And he is determined, says Lloyd, to avoid the sort of hostility that has soured meetings between the two fierce rivals in the recent past.

``We`ve come to play cricket, but we still want to be friends,`` Lloyd told reporters at the Gabba, where the Windies under Courtney Walsh were practising for the first Test.

``Friendly relations between the two sides got a bit eroded over the years, and we would like to repair that," Lloyd said. ``There have been one or two on-field things that didn`t help, and people talk about it over the years and keep it alive. I`m just hoping things get back on an even keel,`` Lloyd said.

The same idea animates West Indies` coach Malcolm Marshall as well. The former pace ace told the media that he has already spoken to his Australian counterpart, Geoff Marsh, in a bid to promote greater harmony between the two sides.

The Test series between the two sides, beginning Friday, threatens to be fiercely competitive. Australia are holders of the Frank Worrell Trophy, which it had won 2-1 in the Caribbean in May 1995. That win ended the West Indies` unbeaten record in Test series, dating back 15 years.

The Aussies under Mark Taylor are dead keen to hold on to the edge, and reinforce that victory with another one, this time at home. And the Windies, for their part, are anxious to erase the blot in their copybook.

One thing`s for sure - the fur will fly, come Friday.

Source :: Rediff On The NeT (https://www.rediff.co.in)