The case for a Test Championship

If the ICC is serious about the retention of Test cricket as the ultimate form of the game, and surely it is, then it must act immediately on the simmering issue of a Test Championship. Cricket must decide, every four years and without doubt, which team is best. Association football and athletics have their World Cup and Olympic Games and the media interest generated by these events is massive. While Test cricket cannot compete on an equal footing with the global nature of these other sports, it can attempt to lift its status.

There appears to be ample support for a Championship among senior players (both current and former) such as Steve Waugh, Kumar Sangakarra and Graeme Smith to name a few. The difficulty, it seems, is the nature of the game. A Test generally takes four or five days to conclude and this is obviously a lot longer than a ninety-minute game of soccer or a ten-second sprint. Therefore, condensing Test cricket into a tournament, like the one-Day or T20 world championship, is entirely impractical.

However, that doesn't mean an end to the idea. The alternative is, quite simply, playing an on-going championship over the entire four years. It is unfortunate but, in order to accommodate this, teams would need to be split. At the moment there is a top tier of five Test-playing nations who are of similar standard. These are India, South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka and England. If these five nations were to schedule home and away series against each other over a three to three-and-a-half-year period, the top two teams could then play off for the title of undisputed world champion. The fourth and fifth ranked teams would play to avoid relegation. Equally, the victor of the sixth and seventh ranked teams (drawn from the pooling of Pakistan, New Zealand, the West Indies, Bangladesh and, hopefully, Zimbabwe and Ireland) would have the opportunity to move up to the top group. Competition would thus be far more even.

Naturally, other series could still take place. India would be free to take on Pakistan and New Zealand could play Australia, but they would probably need to be limited to one or two Tests per series in order to fit in within an ever-tightening schedule. Limits may also need to be imposed on the ever-growing T20 circuit. The Australian Big Bash, Champions League and IPL have all shown that the 20-over game is viable at domestic level. There is a strong case for it remaining there. The game cannot afford both a 20-over version and a 50-over one at international level without reducing fixtures. The ICC must decide which shortened version it wants or impose some balance to the schedules.

If T20 is to remain internationally, it must be on a four-year World Cup rotation. Currently, the schedule is squeezing any possibility of a Test Championship out. The schedule must be eased. Dividing the Test world in two, at least on paper, is not an idea which will be easy to sell. Yet, there is little choice. Lovers of the game should welcome the day when Bangladesh goes into bat against Zimbabwe in the deciding rubber of a Test Championship. That day is, unfortunately, a long way off. In the current Test rankings, Bangladesh have just 273 points from 28 matches. The number-one ranking India have 4719 points in 38 matches. The discrepancy is too great for a game of nine or ten nations to bear.

Yes, the minnows will improve by playing the best teams, but they need also to win more games and they will do so quicker in a schedule which is weighted more towards their form. We must think of Ireland's inclusion. One-off Tests against Australia as a lead-up to the Ashes in England, as suggested here in Inbox, are exactly what will be needed. But equally, major series against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, West Indies, New Zealand and Pakistan, would give Ireland the opportunity to enter the Test scene without the fear of constant and unedifying thrashings. A quick glance at the ratings will show a difference between fifth and sixth places of over 20%. A two-tier system would heighten the competition exactly there, in the middle.

The result would be unlike football relegations because there would be far fewer teams involved and there shall always be an opportunity to play outside a division, especially in the shorter formats. One can only hope that the introduction of such a system may provide encouragement for other emerging nations to join the Test fold.