World Test Championship could reignite game

The time is right for a World Test Championship, writes Mike Atherton in the Times. The concept is nothing new, he says, and a version exists, although you need a degree in quantum mathematics to understand how the ICC’s ranking system works — and, indeed, international captains routinely rubbish its significance.

Test cricket is routinely sold out months in advance in England and is held in high esteem by players, administrators and the cricket-watching public. Therefore, we are often unaware of the indifference felt by the majority of cricket-playing nations towards the five-day game. The empty stands that greeted the two top Test teams in South Africa last winter prompted MCC to commission research into the popularity or otherwise of Test cricket. The findings did not make for happy reading.